TWO Tenby firefighters hailed heroes following a dramatic sea rescue have been nominated for a top national accolade.

Gary Slack and Billy Connor rescued a brother and sister struggling against a strong current off the town’s Castle Beach in August.

The pair are now amongst three finalists in the bravery category of the 2017 St. David Awards, which acknowledge the extraordinary achievements, great deeds and contributions of people in the country.

On August 7, whilst performing community PR activities at Tenby Harbour, the duo were part of a crew that were alerted to swimmers in difficulty at Castle Beach.

On reaching the beach with their watch manager, they saw two children, a brother and a sister aged 13 and 14, in obvious difficulty about 100-metres from the shore, in an area where rip tides are commonplace.

With the fire engine approximately quarter-of-a-mile away, the remainder of the crew raced to get the necessary equipment. The children were becoming increasingly tired, swimming against a strong current and swell conditions, and were beginning to disappear beneath the water, at increased risk of drowning.

Given the time it would take for the crew to return with the equipment, and that both mother and father were about to enter the water in an attempt to save their children, the decision was taken by their watch manager (based upon their open water swimming experience) that they enter the water and undertake a rescue swim.

Billy swam to the boy and brought him to safety, while Gary swam out to the girl and kept her afloat whilst trying to bring her back to shore. However, the sea conditions proved difficult and Billy returned to assist in recovering the girl to the beach.

There the children were both treated by fire service personnel who gave first aid until an ambulance arrived. Both were successfully rescued and were taken to hospital with concerns of secondary drowning.

Gary and Billy were praised by the RNLI, whose own lifeboat based at Tenby was attending another rescue 12 miles from Tenby on the day, and said that had both firefighters not intervened, the outcome would have likely been fatal.

The St. David Awards annually recognise and celebrate the exceptional achievements of people in Wales. They acknowledge people who are making a real difference for this country - either at home or abroad. They are great marks of distinction and the highest accolades that Welsh Government confers on our citizens nationally.

The awards reflect and promote the aspirations of Wales and its citizens to be a modern, vibrant country, with a growing reputation as a confident and clever nation valuing innovation, community spirit, and above all its people.

They operate over the entire country - they are the ‘awards of awards’ and the natural destination for all those who have won other sectoral or community awards.

The St. David Awards ceremony will be held at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay on Thursday, March 23.

At this ceremony, the winners in each of the eight publicly nominated categories will be announced along with the First Minister’s Special Award.