A naval recruit is to receive a bravery award after he saved a drowning woman.

Peter Sharrod, 19, of St Leonards, was working as a lifeguard in Hastings when he rescued a swimmer who had fainted 500 metres out at sea.

Princess Alexandra, the Queen's first cousin, is to reward his heroics with a Royal Humane Society Testimonial and a Resuscitation Certificate at Haberdasher's Hall, London.

The trainee engineering technician was to take a day off from his basic training today to receive the bravery award for his actions last September.

A former student of Bexhill College he said he was "just doing his job" the day he saved the woman, who has not been named.

Peter said: "I was at the top of the beach in the lifeguard hut when I looked out of the door and saw somebody waving in the water about 500 metres out.

"At first, because we get so many people waving at their families, I just stood and assessed the situation, but then I saw the person was in trouble and I ran down the beach, got on a paddle ski and paddled out.

"When I got to her I asked if is she was OK and she replied no, which I must admit got my heart racing a bit."

Peter threw a float into the water for the woman to grab hold of but, having become very weak, she fainted.

So the sailor immediately discarded his ski and jumped into the water before towing her to shore, where two of his colleagues helped carry her up the beach.

He said: "We noticed her breathing had stopped so I started to carry out CPR. It was my first time on a real casualty so it was very scary. Luckily I was successful after two rescue breaths and five compressions."

Emergency services arrived five minutes later and took the woman to hospital where she made a full recovery.

Peter added: "My heart was racing afterwards and I had to sit and compose myself before carrying on. I had a big smile on my face for the rest of the day."

The teenager joined the Royal Navy in March and is now in the final stages of his eight week initial training course at HMS Raleigh in Cornwall.

He said he was surprised to hear he had won the award. Princess Alexandra only presents about 12 of the 400 certificates given by the Society each year.

Peter said: "I was shocked but happy. I feel very, very privileged.

"Any one of us could have carried out the rescue. We'd all had exactly the same training. I was just in the right place at the right time, just doing my job."

Peter is due to complete his training course next week. He will then transfer to HMS Sultan in Hampshire for professional training before taking his place in the fleet.

Do you know the woman who was rescued? Leave your comments below or call Andy Dickenson on 01273 544538.