A 20-year-old man from Bromont, Que., on vacation in Bali, is being hailed as a hero after saving four local people from drowning.

Samuel Rousseau-Mascolo, who works at the aquatic park at Ski Bromont, was on Canggu beach, on Bali's south shore, last week when he saw the swimmers struggling in the water.

"Even on vacation, you're a lifeguard at heart," he told Radio-Canada.

Rousseau-Mascolo quickly tracked down someone nearby with a surfboard, and they set out to reach the swimmers, who were being dragged out by the current.

"Each of us [had] two swimmers clinging to our surfboard, which we used as a lifesaver," he said.

It took 12 minutes to retrieve them and get them back to shore. Rousseau-Mascolo provided first aid on the beach and insisted the swimmers be taken to the hospital.

"We wanted to prevent a secondary drowning because they had inhaled a lot of water and it could have been in their lungs," he said.

He doesn't know what happened to the victims of the near-drowning after they went for further treatment. However, he said, they were breathing and had a pulse and he's sure they recovered.

"They were in good hands at the hospital," he said.