Brave boys drag four drowning men from Scarborough rip

Three boys are being hailed as heroes after saving four men from drowning at Scarborough beach.

Henry Irwin, 10, was the first to act when told four swimmers were sucked out to sea in a rip in front of the amphitheatre on Sunday.

The budding lifesaver raced to where Nick Nielsen and Michael Matraszek, both 16, were on paddle boards and sought their help.

"I heard Mum say people needed help in the water and I saw Nick and Mike and told them to take their boards and help," Henry said.

Nick said they paddled furiously 150m to the foundering men. "By the time we got there, they were pretty much gone," he said.

One was submerged so they took him to shore as he fell in and out of consciousness and set off again to bring the other men in.

The men were given oxygen and three were taken to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, one under priority conditions.

The boys are volunteer lifesavers at Scarboro Surf Life Saving Club but were not on patrol.

Club president Elise Irwin, who saw the rescue, said the men would have drowned if not for the boys.

She said the men, who could not swim and could not speak English, were in a no-swimming area.

Surf Life Saving WA chief executive Paul Andrew feared people were not getting the message about swimming between the flags and obeying signs.

Irishman Martin Costigan drowned at Scarborough beach on January 24 in a no-swimming area 100m from the latest incident.

He said some tourists had never been in that sort of aquatic environment and were like children playing with matches - they did not understand the risks.