Fletcher Slee had been preparing to leave West Beach, near Esperance on WA's south coast, when he took one last look at the ocean.
The 22-year-old saw two boys in trouble in the water.
The boys had been exploring a narrow strip of the reef, which stretches out into the water, before climbing off and getting caught in a rip on Monday morning.
Mr Slee said one managed to make his way in, but the other was quickly wearing himself out swimming freestyle against the current.
"That's when I started to grab my board and jump straight down there and get him out," he said.
Mr Slee, a qualified lifeguard who works as a pool operator and a former Esperance Surf Life Saving Club member, helped the boy onto the board.
The pair swam back to shore together, where the boy rejoined his friend.
Mr Slee said the boys were locals and about 12 to 14 years old.
After checking they were okay, Mr Slee said he helped the two brush up on their skills, giving "a bit of beach safety 101".
"Just indicating where the rips are, what to look out for and making sure that when they do go to the beach that they have someone watching them and they assess the water before they jump in," he said.
But Mr Slee's work wasn't done for the day.
Hero comes to the second rescue
As he was making his way back up the steep staircase to the car park, his friends alerted him to more people in danger.
"They managed to point out to me where two more swimmers were caught out in a rip starting at First Beach … heading around the reef," he said.
Mr Slee's friends ran his board down to him. Then he went back to help.
This time Mr Slee said he talked to the girls, showing them how they could get back in.
"They managed to get into the inlet and then swim side-on back to shore," he said.
He said the girls were local and seemed about 16 years old.
Mr Slee put the twin incidents down to big swell and beautiful weather.
"It's never a good combination," he said.
"And there were some flash rips that developed."
He believed closing the beach was a good decision.
"I believe it was a really good call because it was very dangerous weather," Mr Slee said.
"Having tourists in town that might not have as much knowledge as we do — it could have ended up in a lot more trouble."
'A deadset champion'
Word of Mr Slee's efforts were quick to spread around town, particularly after people took to social media to thank him.
"A huge shout out to Fletcher. A young man who risked his own life not once but twice assisting when 4 people were sucked or to sea," one post read.
"Horrifying to watch from above.
"Fletcher, if you see this post I want you to know that are a dead set champion.
Another post also commended his efforts.
"Hats off to the young man who went out and rescued a young kid with his surfboard we saw while down there this morn," it said.
"He was an absolute legend."
Mr Slee said he was humbled by the response.
"I was not expecting it to blow up as much as it did," he said.
"I was just doing my part and making sure that these people that did get into trouble were safe.
"Obviously, I love all the kind words, and I'm really thankful and appreciative of it.
"I'm really grateful that those people were safe [and] that we managed to get in into the beach today."
The Goldfields-Esperance Police district posted on Facebook two days ago, saying it had attended three different incidents over the past five days for people caught in rips, with two of those at West Beach.
