Luke Swanevelder and Jannus Visser have been lauded as heroes. They received citations from the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) on Monday for saving Priscilla Peters of Atlantis from drowning off Melkbosstrand this year.
Laerskool Van Riebeeckstrand teacher Louise Vermeulen said no one at the school had been aware of the incident at the time because the boys kept mum. That is until a classmate brought in a newspaper article describing the pair's exploits.
Vermeulen described the boys as humble and unassuming.
"They don't want to be the heroes," she said. "Their classmates are more proud and impressed about it."
Jannus, 12, said they were bodyboarding on the last Sunday in February when they heard someone shouting that a swimmer was in trouble.
"We saw this lady swimming in deep, but we thought she was okay," he recalled.
The pair paddled out towards the woman and told her to hold on to their boards.
"By the time we got to the beach, her friend had called the NSRI," said Luke, 11.
Ryan Barnes, NSRI station commander at Melkbosstrand, said his personnel had not seen the incident because they had been patrolling another stretch of the beach.
"I do believe that if they hadn't intervened, she'd have drowned," said Barnes.
Luke and Jannus said they simply did what they had to do "because we were in the water".
Both like watersports, but Luke has since given up bodyboarding and Jannus has taken up surfing.
They both live in Melkbosstrand, but don't get down to the beach every day.
And while neither is in a hurry to join the lifesaving club, they said they would probably do the same again should the need arise.
