Shark attack at Coogee Beach leaves 35-year-old woman critically injured

The attack

On Saturday at around 11:15 a.m., a 35-year-old woman was swimming about 30 meters from the shore at Coogee Beach, in eastern Sydney, when a shark attacked her. She suffered severe lacerations to her arms and legs. Bystanders pulled her from the water and began first aid before paramedics arrived.

“I saw a massive pool of blood in the water, then a lady kind of motioning to swim, lots of splashing, and then a ski paddler was out trying to bring her in.”

Rescue and injuries

Lifeguard Charlie Verco, who was on a paddleboard nearby, paddled toward the swimmer. He saw the shark, later identified as a roughly 3.5-meter white shark, pull her underwater.

“I saw the shark come out of the water and the size of it shocked me. I paddled over to her and the shark pulled her under and I was thinking, 'what do I do now?' A few seconds later she surfaced again.”

The woman was taken to Coogee Oval, a rugby field, and airlifted to hospital in critical condition. New South Wales Ambulance inspector Mike Corlis said she had deep wounds to her leg and arms that would require multiple surgeries. One leg reportedly had a wound more than 30 centimeters wide with exposed bone.

Beach closures

Coogee Beach and several other beaches in the Randwick City Council area were closed for 24 hours after the incident. Mayor Dylan Parker said the council would await recommendations from the state government before reopening.

Rising toll

Saturday's attack is the latest in a string of shark encounters along the Australian coast. Since mid-May, three spearfishers have been killed. On June 6, a 4.5-meter white shark fatally mauled Daniel Turpin, 35, near Albany, Western Australia. On May 24, Michael Jensz, 39, suffered fatal head injuries on the Great Barrier Reef. Ten days earlier, Steve Mattabonni, 38, was killed by a four-meter white shark off Perth. In January, a 12-year-old boy died after a bull shark bite in Sydney Harbour. Australia averages about 20 shark incidents with injuries each year, and 2.8 fatalities annually over the past decade, though the recent cluster has pushed the 2026 death toll to four.