New Coast Guard swimmer saves man’s life after wave overwhelms yacht

ASTORIA, Oregon. A newly minted Coast Guard rescue swimmer saved a man’s life on Friday at the mouth of the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington just after a giant wave capsized the yacht he was piloting and threw him into the surf.

Coast Guard helicopter video captured part of the dramatic preservation. Petty Officer Michael Clarke says the agency received the distress call around 10 a.m. without further information.

The agency was able to roughly determine where the call was coming from, and Coast Guard crews on boats and helicopters, who happened to be training nearby, responded. They found the 35-foot (11-meter) P/C Sandpiper yacht taking on water in 20-foot (6-meter) sea – which means that the wave height from the previous chute can be up to 40 feet. (12 meters) – said Clark.

The swimmer managed to find the man in the surf and haul him to safety aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter. AP

The rescue swimmer made his first rescue immediately after finishing the Coast Guard’s rescue swim program. AP

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Petty Officer Michael Clarke says the agency received the distress call around 10 a.m. without further information. USCGPacificNW/Twitter

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The rescue swimmer, who made his first bailout immediately after the end of the Coast Guard’s lifeguard program, was tethered from a helicopter. As he approached the ship, a man on board climbed aft, preparing to enter the water.

But just then a huge wave swept over the boat, throwing him into the surf. The wave hit so hard that the ship capsized and hung upright.

The swimmer managed to find the man in the surf and haul him to safety aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter. The crew took him to Coast Guard Base Astoria, where medics treated him for mild hypothermia.

“It’s kind of like the christening of a new lifeguard swimmer,” Clarke said.

The name of the swimmer and the rescued person was not immediately disclosed.

The mouth of the Columbia, North America’s largest river that empties into the Pacific Ocean, has such an infamous rough sea that it’s been called the “Graveyard of the Pacific.”

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