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by KERRY BURKE and LEO STANDORA
Firefighters swam to the rescue yesterday when a city cop trying to help two teenage girls caught in an undertow off Rockaway Beach nearly drowned himself, the FDNY said.
Using surf rescue boards and life buoys, the Bravest from Ladder 137/Engine 268 pulled all three to safety and helped several other swimmers break free of the treacherous currents.
"I gotta give the guy credit," Fire Lt. Jim O'Brien, 48, said of the unidentified cop. "He went in with his uniform on. He went in to help people and he just became overwhelmed and couldn't swim anymore."
Authorities said the police officer responded to a report of three people in trouble in the surf shortly before 7 p.m.
When he hit the beach, he found nearly a dozen people in the water trying to reach the screaming girls - 18 and 16 - who went for a swim after lifeguards went off duty. The girls got caught in an undertow that took them 125 yards off shore.
The cop dove in and with other would-be rescuers tried to reach the girls, but he ran out of gas. Five firefighters stroked out with the boards and got the job done.
Brendon O'Connor, 27, one of several men who tried but was unable to pull the girls out, said: "It was really bad out there. I wouldn't have made it back without help. I was screaming for it. The firemen did a really good thing."
The cop and the girls appeared to be unharmed but were taken to Peninsula Hospital for evaluation.
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