Honestly the drone probably wins in all those categories today and the drone doesn't have the problem of needing to navigate choppy water, has a bird's eye view

Honestly the drone probably wins in all those categories today and the drone doesn't have the problem of needing to navigate choppy water, has a bird's eye view, and can't accidentally slam into the swimmer on a bad wave. And you can buy them off the shelf, hell you can buy a drone right now today that can physically lift the person out of the ocean.