A woman has died and a child rescued after both were caught in a rip on the NSW north coast.
The 50-year-old woman was swimming with the young family member when they were swept out to sea on Tuesday evening at Park Beach in Coffs Harbour.
Lifeguards patrolling another part of the beach were called to the area about 5.20pm, finding the woman unconscious in the water.
"To the best efforts of the lifeguards up there, they weren't able to revive that lady," Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steven Pearce said.
"That takes the (NSW) drowning toll to eight but the ripple effect both on her family and also the responders will be untold for many, many years to come."
The child was brought safely to shore.
The woman's death is at least the 36th drowning in Australia since the start of summer, following a particularly deadly Christmas and New Year period.
The period is commonly the deadliest for drownings as Australians flock to often remote and unfamiliar waterways.
A four-year-old girl and six-year-old boy died after they were found unconscious in Perth's Swan River near where revellers had gathered for New Year celebrations.
The children, from separate families, were spotted in the water at a popular family picnic spot and were unresponsive when members of the public pulled them from the river.
Two days after Christmas, a two-year-old girl died after being pulled unconscious from a backyard pool in northern NSW.
Lifesavers are urging anyone thinking of entering the water to save someone to first grab a surfboard or another flotation device.
Would-be rescuers made up 17 per cent of NSW's drowning toll last summer.
"It could be a soccer ball or football or a boogie board," Mr Pearce said.
"If you take that flotation device in with you, that allows you to keep afloat with that person until we can get our lifesavers and lifeguards there."
It came as the first of 67 new surf lifesaving jetskis hit the water in Sydney, equipped with GPS tracking, shark tourniquets and upgraded first aid kits.
As well as helping on busy beaches, the jetskis will be crucial for rescuing stricken rock fishers along the state's coast.
"We don't want the best day at the beach to become the worst day of your family's life," Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib said on Wednesday.
"We want everybody who comes to the beach, into the waterways, to be able to return home safely."
The rollout will take four years.
