After going into cardiac arrest and nearly drowning while competing in the Duke’s OceanFest late last month, a 58-year-old man had a chance Sunday to meet the crew that helped save his life.

"The lifeguards obviously had a real plan in place, and you could tell that they were well prepared," said Lesli Knee, daughter of Robert Pickering, who met his rescuers at Waikiki Beach. "When I think about it, I think the swim actually saved his life, because there were lifeguards and paramedics right there to save his life, whereas if he had been by himself or with my mom, it most likely wouldn’t have been the same outcome."

Pickering spent nearly a week in the hospital after he was found floating in the water without a pulse Aug. 25 during the one-mile swim competition, said Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for the city Department of Emergency Services.

Enright said that safety personnel hired by the event organizers were patrolling the water on personal watercraft when they noticed Pickering struggling and asked him if he was OK.

Pickering told the lifeguards that he was fine, but they later found him unresponsive, she said.

Safety workers pulled Pickering from the water and turned him over to lifeguards, who were able to revive him on shore. He was then transported with a breathing tube in critical condition to a hospital.

"For us (the Department of Emergency Services) it’s like a total team effort to save this man’s life, so of course we’re ecstatic," Enright said.

Knee said that her dad was a lifeguard when he was younger and has been swimming his entire life.

He remained in the hospital until Friday because doctors were concerned he would develop pneumonia from ingesting so much salt water, she said.

Knee estimated that only 70 to 75 minutes passed from the time Pickering was plucked from the water to the time he was in surgery, and she said she is grateful to be able to thank the lifeguards and paramedics who saved his life.

Pickering and his wife live part of the year in Phoenix but have had a home here for the past 10 years.