A KAYAKER and beach lifeguard who tried to save the life of a woman found floating in the water off Porthleven have been recognised for their efforts despite an ultimately tragic outcome.

The middle-aged woman was found in the sea between Porthleven and Rinsey just before 11am on Saturday, sparking a massive emergency services operation, but she was ultimately declared dead later that day, having been airlifted to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.

Porthleven Coastguards have praised the efforts of lifeguard Andy Beswick, who paddled more than 2km from Porthleven beach to try to reach the woman, saying: "Such respect for the enormous paddle he did."

Andy's RNLI lifeguard supervisor, Andy Thomas, said: "The rescue operation on Saturday was a real team effort from all the emergency services involved, as well as the kayaker who was first on the scene.

"We are just so sorry that the outcome wasn’t a good one and our thoughts and condolences are with the lady’s family and friends."

The kayaker who was first to find the woman and who took her to shore has also spoken of the moment he realised he realised he was too late.

Ian Prickett, owner of Vertical Blue Adventures stand up paddle boarding and kayaking business in Porthleven, was on the water with his first group of kayakers for the day when he heard someone shouting from the cliff top above.

"Because they were quite high, I couldn't work out what they were saying. I thought the guy was shouting 'dolphin' at me. I didn't expect anything else.

"It became apparent that the guy was shouting, 'There's a body'."

The group had paddled around 2km from the harbour, to an area towards Rinsey where there are a series of small coves only accessible by water. It was here that two of his group spotted the woman, wearing a blouse and leggings, floating face down.

Ian sent the group away to a different area with another instructor, then jumped into the water and swam the woman into one of the coves.

He estimated she had been in the water a couple of hours, although there were no noticeable injuries on her.

"As soon as I turned her over I knew she had been in the water quite a while. I did a bit of a quick check just to make sure and there were no signs of life at all," said Ian.

The other instructor had already called the coastguard from his VHF radio and Ian then rang again on his mobile, to be told the emergency services were on their way.

At that point Andy arrived on his paddleboard, with Ian saying: "He did an amazing paddle from the beach - it's a really long way."

Penlee inshore lifeboat arrived a few minutes later, following by the coastguard helicopter. As it was too risky to fly close to the cliffs, Andy swam the woman to the RNLI boat, from where she was winched into the helicopter to be flown to hospital.

The matter is now in the hands of the police and coroner, and no further details about the woman have been released at this time.