A SAILING instructor who rescued a man swept a mile out to sea by the high tide says he could easily have been killed.

Skipper John Dale, 42, from Hove, was doing sailing training for students at Lagoon Watersports on Saturday, July 14, but the session was put on hold when his students saw the man struggling in the water.

He had been fishing at Brighton Marina wall and decided to go for a swim due to the hot weather.

However, not knowing it was high tide, he was swept away almost one mile away from shore.

Mr Dale said the man’s survival was a “miracle”. He added: “It was about 2.30pm when we saw him. My students spotted a splashing in the water. We looked over and saw him. He was about three quarters of a mile away from the shore.

“We sailed close to him, tied a line in a loop and threw it to the man and we got him up on the boat. He had been trapped in the water for about half an hour and it was a miracle he was alive.

“I’ve been sailing for 15 years and I’ve never seen anything like this.

“There were speedboats and they could have killed him. They wouldn’t have been able to see him because they are travelling really fast.”

Mr Dale said the man was extremely grateful after his brush with death.

He added: “The man thanked us and he was overwhelmed. He was also petrified at the same time.

“From my assessment, I believe he was in the early stages of hypothermia. His core temperature was going down and it could have been fatal. Luckily the weather was warm.

“We dried him off and I checked for his vital signs and he was all right. If he had been in the water for another half an hour he could have died from hypothermia.”

Mr Dale then contacted his line manager to take the man back to shore.

The skipper said: “Our line manager came with a power boat and took him back shore, and handed him back to the lifeguards.

“He told us he was fishing at Brighton Marina wall and wanted to go for a swim. But it went horribly wrong. It was a spring tide on that Saturday, meaning the tide was more than six metres.

“He was swept away with the tide. Even if you are a top swimmer you probably can’t swim back to shore.

“He is very lucky to be alive and I am very glad he is safe now. I am also very proud of my students because they are new to sail boating. They were all very calm and they did superbly.

“My advice to everyone is to always check the tides before you take a dip in the water. Make sure you check beach warning signs. Check for safety flags and always swim within the boundaries. If you are unsure always check with lifeguards.”

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: “The man jumped off the marina arm and was swept away in a westerly direction. The crew of a yacht from Lagoon Watersports in Brighton Marina, known as No Excuses, discovered the man in the water while they were out on a sailing course.

“They picked him up, applied basic first aid checks, radioed their centre and their rigid inflatable boat, which came out and brought the man back to shore where the council’s lifeguards checked him over and applied the necessary first aid.

“Obviously it goes without saying the man was very lucky. Had Lagoon Watersports not been passing then this could have ended very differently. We would like to remind everyone that tombstoning from the marina, the pier or any of the large groynes is very dangerous.

“This is a prime example of a foolish action which puts additional strain on the lifeguard service, emergency services and the RNLI.”