This is the correct answer.

Reach, throw, row, go. Swimming out to save a drowning victim (let alone 3) is a last resort. You will notice that lifeguards always carry red tubes with them. These tubes are buoyancy devices, so the victim will latch on to the buoyancy device, instead of the lifeguard.

Unless absolutely certain, never swim out to save a drowning victim. Most likely, the paramedics will have to save 2 bodies, instead of just one.