A young man who died after going missing while swimming with friends at Freshwater Beach in Sydney’s north on Saturday evening has been identified.

18-year-old Ivan Korolev’s friends returned to shore without him and called emergency services. The Toll Ambulance Rescue Helicopter, a police helicopter and a police boat led a search, which began at about 8.15pm on Saturday. Surf Life Saving NSW was also involved.

They scoured the beach and surrounding area from North Curl Curl headland in the north down to Bluefish Point in the south, and further out to sea.

But Korolev could not be located and the search was scaled back for the night, though Marine Rescue continued to patrol the water overnight and police remained on the beach. The search for Korolev resumed at 6am on Sunday.

His body was recovered from Freshwater Beach at 9.25am. A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Korolev’s mother posted on social media that he’d been body surfing with his two closest friends. She thanked people for their support.

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