A young boy hailed a hero for a “superhuman” swim to save his family as they drifted out to sea had only recently failed a state-run swimming program.

Austin Appelbee, 13, has made global headlines for his epic four-hour journey through rough surf to sound the alarm that his family was stranded, clinging to paddleboards, off the coast of Western Australia’s South West on Friday.

“I was very puffed out but I couldn’t feel how tired I was,” he said of the swim, as he was battered by “massive” waves.

“I just keep swimming. I did breaststroke, I did freestyle, I did survival backstroke.

“Then finally I made it to shore and I hit the bottom … and I just collapsed.”

After reaching the beach, he sprinted two kilometres to a phone to call Triple-0, triggering a major search.

“I said, ‘I need helicopters, I need planes, I need boats. My family’s out at sea’,” he said.

“I was very calm about it. I think it was just a lot of shock.”

His bravery meant his mother Joanne and younger siblings Beau, 12, and Grace, 8, were found by a rescue helicopter 14km out to sea tired but alive more than eight hours after they were pushed offshore by strong winds.

‘I’ll be the first to hand him the bronze medallion’

Naturaliste Marine Rescue commander Paul Bresland described Austin’s effort as “superhuman” and was confident he “must be a strong swimmer”.

But Bresland was told by the teen’s dad that he had just wrapped up VacSwim and had failed, reported the ABC.

Royal Life Saving WA chief executive Peter Leaversuch said Austin’s heroic act had outstripped any performance test.

“I had a chuckle [about the VacSwim stuff]. As instructors and educators we hope what was communicated to him was that he didn’t fail, it was more that he hadn’t performed all the elements just yet and he needed to continue practicing,” Leaversuch told 7NEWS.com.au.

“For us, it’s a journey.

“I accept the irony of it. Clearly he can do it and I’ll be the first to hand him the bronze medallion.

“His heroic act outstrips any performance test.”

VacSwim, which made headlines in 2025 due to plummeting enrolments, teaches kids about “skills to stay safe and build their confidence in the water”.

Leaversuch said it is a vitally important program.

“The community understands the bronze medallion – that you can swim a couple hundred metres on your front, back and side, tread water and perform a rescue,” he said.

“We want everyone in the community to get to that level. Too many are dropping out when they can swim one or two laps.

“But these are foundation skill that set them up for life. Austin’s story highlights that importance.”

Austin said on Tuesday that “luckily” his parents had put him through lessons since he was four-years-of-age and he is a “good swimmer”.

“I’ve always learnt to swim,” he said.

“If I fall into the water, the likelihood of me swimming back up to the surface and start treading water, I can always do that.

“So I have a lot of skills. I’ve been taught how to take off my life jacket in water, so that was really helpful.

“I didn’t have to, but I’ve learned how to take my clothes off in the water and a bunch of other things.”

‘They have to learn how to swim’

His proud mum Joanne said she had prioritised swimming lessons for all her children.

“I‘m Irish. We don’t get into the water over there so this land is surrounded by water and if [the kids are] going to be on the beach they have to learn how to swim,” she said.

“We’ve always insisted that they do.

“VacSwim has been amazing. When they were younger we had beginner private lessons but as you’re older we try and get them doing VacSwim at least twice a year with them and the school helps as well which is amazing.”

Drownings in Australia surged to unprecedented levels and the country’s swimming skills are at “crisis” point, experts said in August when it was revealed 357 people had been killed in 2024-25.

Since December 1, 2025, 64 people have drowned in Australia, below the five-year average of 76 for this time of year, and down on the 89 deaths at the same point 12 months ago.

Chinese international student Fangqi Peng is among the country’s latest tragic stories, having died while trying out new diving equipment in Sydney on Sunday.

Austin’s family, who were on holiday, had taken to the water with two paddleboards and a kayak off the coast of Quindalup, about 250kms south of Perth.

Conditions quickly deteriorated and they lost two oars and their kayak took on water as they tried to get back to shore.

Joanne said asking Austin to try to make it shore was “one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make”.

“As the sun went down, I thought something’s gone terribly wrong here and my fear was that Austin didn’t make it and everything goes through your head as a mum,” she said.

“Did I make the wrong decision by sending him, because I knew he was the strongest and he could do it?

“I would have never went because I wouldn’t have left the kids at sea, so I had to send somebody.

“There were no boats. There was nothing that we can get hold of.

“And then as it got darker, I thought, there’s no one coming to save us. This is us.”

Austin remains on crutches but is expected to make a full recovery.