A quick dip on sunny Saturday turned into a nightmare for Dylan Beardsley and his girlfriend after their lives were threatened by flash floods at Launceston's Cataract Gorge.
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The two were among many swimmers to enjoy calm conditions at the Gorge before the peaceful scene was violently washed away by a wall of water.
"The water was warm, shallow, clear ... there were tourists and families everywhere," Mr Beardsley said.
"It was about three in the afternoon, there were about 10 people swimming around us."
It all changed in a matter of minutes as water spilled over the top of Trevallyn Dam and crashed into the South Esk River.
"I turned around and all the kids were pointing towards us and then at the water - the shock on the kids and Nayaran's (a witness) face was the same as ours," Mr Beardsley said.
"Before we knew it the white water was surrounding us.
"(I thought) `I'm going to die, I don't want to die."'
He said they hesitated to jump as the water's volume and ferocity increased around them.
"We're both very strong swimmers," Mr Beardsley said.
"I just knew the safe decision was to stay where we were.
"If we did jump and didn't have that uncertainty it could have been a tragedy."
The next three hours were excruciating for the two.
The crowd of onlookers grew as police and emergency services rushed to the scene.
Mr Beardsley said the roaring torrent prevented most communication between them and the rescue party.
"We'd get a big splash and then in the next 30 seconds we'd have three more, we knew it was getting higher.
"Towards the end there was water everywhere - it was on us for the last half an hour."
The two were safely airlifted to the Aurora Stadium by a rescue helicopter, but Mr Beardsley wondered why more wasn't done to prevent the incident.
"You'd think if there was to be a flood that some sort of personnel would walk the track and alert people about the danger," he said.
"There's a lot of tourists that can't read English, and wouldn't even think to look for alerts on such a nice day."
Mr Beardsley was aware of the signage at the Gorge, but said it was almost obsolete due to its constant presence.
"That sign is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year," he said.
"It's been there my whole life, it's just one of those things that are a part of the Gorge.
"I just want to thank the SES and emergency services - they did such a good job."
Launceston City Council general manager Robert Dobrzynski said the council had announced the flood risk through the media, but was unsure what further action was taken. "It's virtually impossible for us to monitor the Gorge to the extent that we prohibit any entry into the area," Mr Dobrzynski said.
"As a consequence of this incident we'll review measures of signage and how we monitor it."
