Action: Arnold comes to rescue of ailing swimmer(Last Action Hero)

LA Sun Times ^ | 04/11/04 | BY MICHAEL R. BLOOD

[CCCnative]

LOS ANGELES -- The famously fit Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, on vacation in Hawaii, helped a struggling swimmer on a boogie board make it safely to the beach, his office said Friday.

Schwarzenegger, who has been on a 10-day getaway with his family on Maui, was swimming toward his wife, Maria Shriver, on Wednesday when he noticed a man ''in distress in the water'' clutching a boogie board about 100 yards offshore, said Margita Thompson, the governor's spokeswoman in Sacramento.

[tiamat]

Very cool!

[Ciexyz]

"Come with me if you want to live!"

[Travis McGee]

Man, what a great vacation story to take back to Peoria!

[stylin19a]

I love these eye-witness accounts:

'Access Hollywood'' co-anchor Pat O'Brien, whose family is vacationing with the Schwarzeneggers, provided a slightly different account.

O'Brien, who did not witness the aquatic heroics, said Schwarzenegger borrowed a boogie board to bring in the man, who by his estimate was 200 yards offshore.

Shriver ''came up and she said, you know, 'Did you hear the big story?' She was kind of laughing. She said Arnold just pulled a guy out of the water,'' O'Brien said.

''The guy wasn't drowning, he wasn't going under, but he was in trouble,'' O'Brien said.

[Ruth A.]

If he didn't witness the event, then how can he estimate the difference?