Three swimmers rescued

Three swimmers were pulled out of the waters off Long Beach last Friday by off-duty lifeguards and one was rushed to the hospital, bringing a dramatic end to a week in which a girl drowned, police temporarily enforced a no-swimming policy and city officials heard calls to put lifeguards on full-time duty earlier in the season.

At around 1:30 p.m. on June 25 — a day before the official start of the beach season — a group of young people from Queens went swimming near Franklin Boulevard, City Manager Charles Theofan said. A 21-year-old man and two women in the group became distressed in the water and began shouting for help, officials said.

"They were in water way above their heads," said Theofan. "They were fortunate enough that an alert person saw them."

Some beachgoers rushed into the water to help, as did lifeguards, who were working nearby, preparing for the following day's opening. The chief of the city's lifeguards, Paul Gillespie, said that he was posting signs and digging holes with a fellow lifeguard when he learned about the emergency, and rushed to the scene.

"We threw our shovels down, went in and got the kid," said Gillespie, who explained that the tide was high when the incident occurred. "He was about a half jetty out, but the water is deep out there. There was a surfer out there and we used his board. The waves all of sudden started to come in, but we got the kid up."

Gillespie and others said that the man had water in his lungs, but was responsive when he was brought ashore and taken to Long Beach Medical Center. He is expected to recover, Theofan said. The two women who were rescued were not injured, officials said.

The latest incident happened just three days after 12-year-old Harlem resident Nicole Suriel drowned during a class trip, after she went swimming off Edwards Boulevard. On May 29, the body of Emanuel Tiburcio, 19, of Brooklyn, was found three days after he disappeared, also off Edwards Boulevard.

Last week, Theofan said that the Long Beach Police Department was initiating a criminal investigation into Suriel's death, and working with Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, although Theofan said he could not provide specific details.