Man who saved three swimmers urges caution in Lake Michigan

Joe Flanagan was taking a typical Sunday afternoon stroll with his son-in-law and grandson on a warm and sunny summer day when they decided to take a walk to nearby Lighthouse Beach.

He quickly noticed the choppy water, high waves and the red “no swimming” flag flying at the lifeguard stand. But he was “shocked” to see about 200 people on the beach, with a few dozen in the water anyway. Evanston lakeshore supervisors had declared Lighthouse Beach too dangerous for swimming on Sunday morning, so they raised the red flag and dismissed the lifeguards for the day.

Most people were only up to their calves or thighs in shallow water, Flanagan said. But he soon saw a group of two teenage girls, a woman and a man who were “kind of out there” — about 150 to 200 feet deep in water — and appeared to be “in trouble,” he said.

The four swimmers were at the south end of the beach, approaching the end of the breakwater wall that jutted out into the lake. At this point, Flanagan swam out, pulled the two girls back to shore, and told his son-in-law to call 911.

He said he immediately went back out to help the woman get in, who had drifted behind the pier because “the tide was kind of pulling her out.” As he pulled her to shore, he saw the man “probably 10 feet west of her.”

“I dropped the third girl off. I swam out there and looked for him in the last place where he was behind the girders. It shows you how fragile life is,” Flanagan recalled. “I never found him. I swam for two, five, 10 minutes, just floating around calling his name, and I didn’t hear or see him. Within 10 minutes there were helicopters, drones, boats, divers. It was crazy how busy it was.”

Since the winds and waves at Lighthouse Beach were well above average at the time, Flanagan said there was probably a rip current that pushed the swimmers further out into Lake Michigan. Fire officials also mentioned this.

Safety tips for surf backflow

Most drowning deaths and lifeguard rescues at beaches are caused by surf rip currents, both in the Great Lakes and the oceans. according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). These currents “most commonly form at depressions or breaks in sandbars and near structures such as groynes, breakwaters, and piers.”