Lake Michigan water rescue, man drifted mile out on swimming tube
Lake Michigan
RACINE COUNTY, Wis. - A man was rescued on Lake Michigan on Friday, Oct. 3, when he drifted a mile out from North Beach in Racine and was unable to swim back.
According to the Racine County Sheriff's Office, at 6:40 p.m., the Racine Fire Department and Racine County Sheriff Dive Team were dispatched to North Beach for a man that had drifted out of sight on a swimming tube.
Initial reports indicated that the man was last seen 300 yards from shore about 30 minutes before the 911 call.
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Several Racine firefighters were deployed on shore by UTV with thermal imaging cameras. Racine Sheriff Boat 1 as well as both Sheriff jet skis were deployed from the harbor.
A search strategy was developed based on weather conditions and water currents, deploying watercraft to the area of the Wind Point Lighthouse to conduct a search pattern south towards North Beach.
Within about an hour, dive team members on the jet skis found the man floating about a mile north of the beach and nearly a mile out from shore. He was suffering from dehydration, exhaustion, and was cold. He said the current pulled him out around 3:30 p.m. where he was unable to swim back against the current and drifted north. With no cell phone or other devices, he was unable to call or signal for help.
The 37-year-old Racine area resident was brought to shore and placed in the care of Racine Fire Department paramedics for evaluation.
The Source: The Racine County Sheriff's Office sent FOX6 a press release.