Man who saved three swimmers urges caution in Lake Michigan
![Man who saved three swimmers urges caution in Lake Michigan Man who saved three swimmers urges caution in Lake Michigan](https://evanstonroundtable.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/DSCF9616-scaled.jpeg)
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.”
Surf rip currents can be subtle, but beachgoers should watch for these telltale signs:
- An area of foam, seaweed, or murky/muddy water extending out to sea (this occurs because sand is pulled away from the shoreline).
- Channels with “turbulent” or choppy water that look different from the surrounding waters.
- Breaks in the incoming wave pattern.
It is important that these currents do not pull swimmers beneath the surface – they only carry them away from the shore. Swimmers should also try to stay as far away from jetties or break walls as possible to avoid the highest risk areas. according to NOAA.
If you get caught in a rip current, you should try to relax and wait until you can swim out of it. Never try to swim against the current, but you can try to swim parallel to the shore until you are safe, as the diagram below shows.
“People need to be careful. This is a big, rugged body of water that’s really strong,” Flanagan said. “If you’re in that carrier, it’s got to complicate people’s ability to swim in that situation.”
The search continues
Wednesday marks three days since the 41-year-old man went missing. An extensive search and rescue effort coordinated by the Evanston Fire Department over the past two days used sonar equipment and helicopters but turned up nothing.
Currently, “we are searching both on the surface and on the shore along the entire Evanston lakeshore, with firefighters in the water, with Marine 21 (the EFD water rescue boat) and drones and watercraft,” said EFD Division Chief Kim Kull. “All three of those responders are deployed along the entire lakeshore, and we also have lifeguards searching on the shore.”
This process will continue until rescue workers find him, Kull said, but “we have not yet been able to locate the person.”
Flanagan thanked EFD for its extensive search efforts.
“They had guys in the water for 90 minutes. The guys were totally into it and I was amazed,” he said. “They had guys in the water in full gear heading for the breakwall. They worked tirelessly. They were amazing.”