The man hailed a hero for rescuing a drowning swimmer in South Bondi early on Sunday evening is believed to be the great grandson of Albert Grace, founder of the Grace Brothers department store chain.
Bondi local Andrew Grace said he heard a man's cries for help and raced down to the water, diving in to rescue him shortly before 5.50pm.
"I live just here and heard the guy screaming out 'help, help, help!'" Mr Grace said.
The flailing man was swallowing water and did not appear to be being washed into the rocks, according to Mr Grace, who "jumped in and grabbed him".
"I've done some basic surf life saving and I surf here and swim here all the time so I got him to grab around my shoulders and I swam him back up and around and we could come in with the waves onto the rocks," he said.
"We pulled him out and he was almost unconscious. He'd swallowed a lot of water and we dragged him up and put him on his side and he started coughing up some of the water."
"We got him just to settle his breathing. After about 10 minutes we brought him up here on the steps and the ambulance came and I stayed with him to make sure he's OK. Fortunately this time he's OK, he survived," he said.
Mr Grace played down his hero status, saying it was fortunate he knows the area well and surfs regularly. "It's just something that if I was in the same situation I guess I'd like to think that there was someone who would do that for me."
Police confirmed they attended the scene near Notts Avenue but the man had already been rescued.
