WAILUKU, Maui — A 29-year-old Vancouver, British Columbia, man used a technique he learned as a lifeguard to escape the jaws of a shark that attacked him yesterday in waters off Kama'ole Beach Park II in Kihei.

Kyle Gruen was about 30 feet to 40 feet offshore at about 12:30 p.m. when the shark grabbed his left side, causing a deep gouge just above his knee, two bite wounds on his upper thigh and a slash to the back of his hand that severed a tendon. Gruen, an operations manager at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, was carried to shore and taken by ambulance to Maui Memorial Medical Center where he was being treated.

"He was swimming along when just all of a sudden it got him," said his twin brother, Jeff, who was at the beach when the shark attacked. "He pulled away and kicked it off, and it took off right away." The swimmer did not get a good look at the shark, his brother said.

Both Gruens underwent lifeguard training in Vancouver that included learning a technique to break free of panicked swimmers who are in danger of drowning their rescuers by pulling them under. Jeff Gruen said the maneuver involves twisting away and pushing the swimmer off with your feet. It was that same move his brother used to escape the shark's grasp, he said.

County and state aquatics officials followed usual protocol and closed the stretch of shoreline where the attack occurred, from Keawakapu to Kalama Beach Park. The beaches will remain closed at least until noon today, when water safety officers will patrol the waters to look for sharks.

Shortly after yesterday's attack, a Maui Fire Department helicopter spotted a large shark lurking off Cove Park near Kalama, said Archie Kalepa, county ocean safety operations supervisor. Kalepa said water safety officers and Department of Land & Natural Resources agents were having trouble keeping people out of the water. "The beaches were crowded, and it's a beautiful, clear day" with calm seas, he said.

The Gruens arrived on Maui Friday, and the shark-attack victim is scheduled to be the best man in his college buddy's wedding tomorrow in Wailea. "It's a bad way to start a vacation," Jeff Gruen said. "It's bad luck, but it could have been a lot worse. He's really lucky."

When asked how his brother was faring, Gruen said the injured man's main concern was being able to walk down the aisle for the wedding.

In addition to their lifeguard experience, the Gruens surf in the frigid waters off Oregon, so they are no strangers to the ocean. They had gone to the Kihei beach together, and Kyle grabbed his goggles to head out for a swim. Jeff Gruen said he was unaware his brother had been bitten by a shark until he saw a commotion on the beach about 200 feet to 300 feet north from where he himself had gone into the water. Kyle Gruen had managed to make it to shallow water on his own, and bystanders alerted county water safety officers, who rendered first aid.

Someone came up and asked Jeff if he had a brother, and by the time he reached Kyle, the injured man had been carried up to a grassy area. The worst wound was the one just above the knee that exposed shredded muscle tissue, Jeff Gruen said. At the hospital, he was told his brother would get "so many stitches, they won't even count them."

There were three previous shark attacks this year in Hawai'i, the last occurring May 31 on O'ahu's North Shore when a spearfisherman was bitten on the left forearm by what was believed to be an 8- to 10-foot tiger shark. The attack occurred about 150 yards from shore in about 25 feet to 30 feet of water in an area known as "Marijuanas."

On March 23, also on the North Shore in an area known as "Leftovers," a surfer in about 6 feet of water was nipped on the left calf about 130 yards offshore. On Feb. 27, a teenager was wading in shallow water at Makena State Park when an 8-foot shark grabbed ahold of her right leg. The types of sharks involved in the March and February attacks are not known, although tiger sharks are believed to be responsible in most cases.

The last fatal shark in Hawai'i occurred April 7, 2004, when a surfer bled to death after being mauled by a tiger shark off Kahana, Maui.

In general, there are an average of three to five shark attacks in the Islands annually. In 2005, there were five: four off Maui and one off O'ahu. In 2004, there were four attacks: one each off Maui, Moloka'i, Kaua'i and the Big Island.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.