All efforts to save a man who had drowned at Umdloti on Monday proved fruitless.

According to Netcare 911 spokesperson, Shawn Herbst, the elderly man was struggling to swim in a tidal pool, and was swept out to sea during high tide.

He was swept out beyond backline.

While lifeguards spotted the man and rushed to his aid, efforts to resuscitate the man proved fruitless when he was brought back to shore.

He was already unresponsive and not breathing.

“Despite best efforts the patients condition rapidly deteriorated and he was sadly declared deceased on the scene,” Herbst said.

Just a little further down south at La Lucia on the same day, another man was presumed to have drowned.

The man, believed to be in his 60s, was spotted disappearing under the water at an unprotected beach.

A search was later called off and the man is presumed to have drowned.