THREE brave Bermudian lifeguards will be presented with Certificate of Merit Awards by Prince Michael of Kent later this month.

The three lifeguards rescued 40 swimmers from the water at Horseshoe Bay on September 20, 2006.

The awards will be presented at the Commonwealth Council Meeting at South Africa House in Trafalgar Square, London on September 17 when the three will be joined by only one other recipient from all Commonwealth nations around the world in receiving the award.

The prestigious awards are presented to those who go above and beyond the call of duty, and in granting the awards, the Commonwealth Council recognised the extraordinary efforts of the Bermudian lifeguards during a busy day last September.

Lifeguards Alistair Jack, Jay Rewalt and Richard Collis were stationed at Horseshoe Bay on that Wednesday and faced dangerous high surf conditions and moving flash rip currents caused by Hurricane Helene.

In a more than an eight-hour period they managed to save the 40 swimmers, aged between 30 and 60, including five swimmers in the space of 20 minutes.

A large number of swimmers were caught in the strong riptides which dragged them out to sea and all were unable to reach the shore without being rescued by the lifeguards.

It's believed that because of certain strips of sand on Horseshoe Bay, riptides were created with some being in excess of 100 metres long.

In one 20-minute period during that day, the lifeguards carried out a relentless chain of rescues involving five swimmers who found themselves in serious difficulty. Mr. Rewalt swam 100 metres from shore into a strong riptide to rescue a woman who had dived off Fraggle Rock. "It was chaos for 20 minutes and when we got the people back on the shore those on the beach gave us a spontaneous round of applause and were cheering loudly, it was quite surreal," Mr. Jack said.

"I felt exhausted, as if I'd been in a fight and I was sore from the waves that were continually hitting me. I had bruises all over my body".

Lifeguard rangers supervisor Craig Burt said during his 20 years of service in Bermuda 40 rescues were the most ever carried out in one day.

"Some of those who were caught out were strong swimmers but could not cope with the riptides," he added.

The following day, the same three lifeguards saved a further 15 people from the sea at Horseshoe Bay.

The lifeguard service comes under the Department of Parks within the Ministry of the Environment, Telecommunications and E-Commerce whose Minister Neletha Butterfield yesterday remarked: "It makes me very proud when I hear about the outstanding service provided by our lifeguards to local residents and visitors to Bermuda's beaches.

"I was thrilled to hear that the efforts of these three lifeguards are to be recognised by Prince Michael of Kent.

"These three young men are true Bermudian heroes."