TWO men who jumped into a raging sea were lucky not to drown, according to the rescue services.

The pair leapt off the promenade at Eastcliff early on Sunday morning, and huge waves driven by 30mph southerly winds smashed them against the seawall.

They were only saved by the heroic and daring efforts by two lifeguards, who were luckily nearby and risked their lives by going into the sea, and the skill of the Teignmouth lifeboat crew.

Luckily for the foolhardy pair, local lifesaving club members were nearby, and along with the inshore lifeboat crew, went to the rescue and saved their lives.

Dominic Round, the Teignmouth Beach Surf Life Saving Club captain, declared: ‘This was the most difficult rescue we have faced at Teignmouth for years.

‘The successful outcome was the teamwork from everyone involved; the coastguard 999 operator to the lifeboat crew and ambulance crew.

‘The sea is appealing and great fun. But every year we warn people that you need to respect it, and every week we hear of people in the UK who drown. This weekend we had a death in the UK in the sea and we were very close to two more fatalities. These are preventable if you treat the sea with respect.’

Dominic and club chairman Glen Mayhew were at the lifeguard club house to assess conditions for the nipper and youth lifesaving session.

They were in the process of cancelling the morning session due to dangerous conditions, when two local men jumped off the sea wall in front of the yacht club into a 6ft heavy swell.

It was immediately clear they were in grave danger – the sea was smashing them against the sea wall and they had no where to go. Each wave was pushing them back and they were getting bashed and injured while taking on water.

The two lifeguards started to create a rescue plan and called the coastguard and lifeboat.

Dominic added that the men could not have been in a worse position.

‘There was no beach, a pushing swell, and they were at risk of being knocked unconscious and drowning. There was no way we could have delivered a rescue plan where they were and get them out, even with a lifeboat.’

Glen added that they dropped rescue boards and flotation tubes off the sea wall to the pair.

‘Instinctively they were trying to hold onto the wall, but staying there was preventing any rescue. We managed to get a rescue tube to them and then ordered them to swim out to sea.

‘At first they refused, as they were panicking, but we just kept telling them to go out and we could rescue them. We knew the lifeboat was on its way, so our plan was to swim to them and tow them out to sea to be picked up.

‘There was no way, once in the sea that we would be able to recover them or ourselves to the beach.

A third committee member, Natalie Coen, arrived and used her experience to take on the shore co-ordination with the lifeboat and coastguard. Dominic and Glen then swam out from the beach to reach the pair.

Initially trying to enter the water proved difficult, and the lifeguards were pushed back into the wall on a number of occasions, before being able to break through the swell with their rescue tubes. The two managed a 100-metre swim in very heavy seas, and managed to get both casualties into the rescue tube.

After a few minutes, the lifeboat was on scene, and effected a daring pick-up. Natalie was able to direct the boat to the lifeguards, who kept disappearing beneath the waves. It was a challenge for the lifeboat helm as they were contending with an incoming swell that was also rebounding off the sea wall.

Visibility was poor, and with every wave they lost sight of the four people in the water. All four were collected and rushed back to the lifeboat station, where they were treated for shock, a head injury and intake of water, before being taken to Torbay Hospital.

Glen described it as ‘a challenging rescue. But we did not rush into the water. We train our lifeguards that entering the water is the last resort.

‘We knew the lifeboat was en route and our role was putting them into a place that we could complete the rescue. What saved their lives was the fact they listened to us from the sea wall, and swam out to sea.

Dominic said that during the rescue, a board and rescue tube were damaged and lost, at a cost of several hundred pounds.

The Two Annes lifeboat was launched again in the afternoon. The crew were tasked to search for a missing vulnerable person, who was possibly in the water off Dawlish.

Both Exmouth lifeboats also attended, and a thorough search was undertaken between the Parson and Clerk and Langstone.

Luckily the casualty was later located ashore safe and well by a police unit.