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Sam Penrod ReportingA man drowned this afternoon in Utah Lake while swimming with two friends.
The friends were swimming in the Provo boat harbor, just a short distance through the channel. They made it across, but on their way back, the victim got into trouble and, sadly, didn't make it back.
Searchers recovered the body of a 29-year old Pleasant Grove man, who drowned in Utah Lake. The victim had only been swimming a short distance, maybe only 30 yards, but something went wrong.
Yvette Rice, Utah County Sheriff's Office: "He clung to a buoy for a short time, then he let go. Thought he could go further and became really distressed and panicked."
So panicked that the man started grabbing onto his friends, a man and a woman and was pulling them under the water. Nearby jet skiers came to help the swimmer.
Kincade Brickley, Witness: "I guess he wasn't a great swimmer and I guess he panicked and grabbed onto them. But the one friend got away and then he was dragging the girl down. And she got away, and I guess that really fatigued her. And so it was probably a good thing I got to her on my jet ski when I did or she might have gone down too."
The two survivors say there was a sweeping undercurrent in the boat channel that seemed to be pulling them into the lake. The jet skiers tried to find the victim.
Zackary Gutierrez, Witness: "I got off my jet ski and jumped in the water and pushed on it to see if I could touch bottom, and I definitely could not touch bottom."
An hour later, trained searchers recovered the victim's body. A sad lesson to what had been a relaxing day on the water.
Zackary Gutierrez, Witness: "Just an overwhelming feeling all of the sudden, three people out there and the one is gone."
Authorities say, unfortunately, this shows the dangers of swimming in open water. And that's why, if you are even close to the shore, it's a good idea to be wearing some type of a life jacket.
