But he has been hailed as a hero after playing a key role in rescuing a British tourist being swept out into Jervis Bay recently.

Mr Parnell was at the Huskisson pool with his family on Tuesday, March 12, but when he stepped out of the pool area to find some shade his wife noticed a woman struggling in the water.

The woman, British tourist Charlotte Breen, was being swept out into Jervis Bay by the outgoing tide as she tried to swim across Currambene Creek from Huskisson to Myola.

"She was trying to wave her arm and get people's attention," Mr Parnell said.

He grabbed his eight-year-old son's body board to help with the rescue.

"I just ran straight down and jumped in the water and paddled out to her on the young fellow's body board, and just coached her to the side because she was trying to swim against the tide," Mr Parnell said.

When he reached Ms Breen he asked if she was okay, and she said she was fine but "I just can't swim up the creek".

Mr Parnell said getting to the woman was not easy, because the body board "slipped out from under me twice while I was paddling out".

"It wasn't a really big body board, but it was enough to float me," he said.

"She grabbed the board as soon as I got there, and I was getting her to kick to the side."

He coached the woman to move to the side towards the moored boats and away from the current just as another man arrived, also on a child's body board.

Together they were helping Ms Breen towards the edge when Marine Rescue Jervis Bay volunteer Norm Stanley arrived on an inflatable stand-up paddleboard, allowing Ms Breen to climb aboard and be taken to safety.

"We all just paddled in together and they helped her over the rocks," Mr Parnell said.

Growing up in Vincentia, he said he had plenty of experience dealing with Currambene Creek's tides and flows.

"We used to jump in that Currambene creek as kids off the wharf, and we'd get swept out for fun, and swim in on the beach, so I know how it works," he said.

That was in the 1990s when there were not as many boats or people about, Mr Parnell recalled.

It was his second rescue after helping to save a toddler at Caves Beach when he was a young surfer.

Mr Parnell said he was just walking into the water when wave came in and knocked over the toddler who was sitting at the water's edge, while the parents had their backs turned.

The water was taking the child out before Mr Parnell ran over and grabbed the distressed infant, handling to crying youngster back to the parents.