"They did an amazing job," Ms Bourke said.
"Carter said they saw these two guys sitting on the beach, so they went out and started surfing and the next thing they noticed this guy was screaming out for help.
"Carter paddled over and said 'are you all right mate?'.
"He was literally going under," she said.
Ms Taylor said Zayde was the first to reach the distressed swimmer who was caught in a rip north of the flagged patrol area.
Surf Life Saving Queensland's Sebastien de Paula on the scene of Sunday's drowning where a second man was saved by actions of three local boys.