A 24-year-old man drowned in Lake Ontario Thursday afternoon after he went swimming at Bluffer’s Park in the city’s east end.
Friends called 911 when the man disappeared under water, telling police he was not a strong swimmer. The Toronto Police Marine Unit dispatched a boat to search for the man.
About an hour later, rescuers pulled the man’s body from rocks along the shoreline as large waves crashed around them. The man was loaded into a waiting ambulance and taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said there was a strong undertow near the rocks where the man was found.
Barbara Byers of the Lifesaving Society said the latest incident should serve as a sobering reminder to beach-goers.
“Many people overestimate their swimming ability and get tired,” Byers told CP24 Thursday.
She said 57 people have drowned in Ontario so far this year, compared to 56 last year. So far, 20 people in Ontario have drowned while swimming, as opposed to falling in the water, Byers said.
On Wednesday, a nine-year-old boy died after he was pulled from the water at Wasaga Beach.
