Swimmer Drowns Off Belmar Monday Afternoon

BELMAR, NJ — A man in his 20s drowned off Belmar Monday afternoon, Belmar Police confirmed in a Facebook post.

The swimmer who died has not been identified by name.

At approximately 12:29 p.m. Monday, Belmar Police received a 911 call of 10 swimmers in distress off the 8th Avenue beach jetty; a jetty is a group of rocks that go out into the ocean. When patrols arrived on scene, multiple bystanders had already tried to rush into the water to save the swimmers; however, their attempts were unsuccessful, said police.

Belmar lifeguards/water rescue members then ran into the water and were able to reach the group of swimmers in distress. The lifeguards were not officially on duty for the summer season yet, but they had been setting up nearby, reported News 12.

One of those swimmers, who was semi-conscious, was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center for additional treatment.

The remaining rescued swimmers were brought back to the beach safely. However, after speaking with these swimmers, it was then discovered that one young man in his 20s was unaccounted for and feared to still be in the ocean.

Additional emergency personnel then arrived to expand the search of the last known location of the young man.

At approximately 1:22 p.m., lifeguards located a body in the ocean and immediately placed him in an ambulance waiting at the scene. The young man was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.

These agencies responded: The Belmar Police Department, Belmar Lifeguards, Belmar Water Rescue Team, Belmar EMS, Neptune Answer Team, Neptune Drone Unit and Marine Unit, Manasquan Fire Department Marine Unit, Sea Girt Lifeguards, Monmouth County Fire Marshal Office, New Jersey State Police and U.S. Coast Guard.

This is also the sixth drowning in New Jersey in the past week, notes NJ 101.5 — and the summer season just started. Three swimmers had to be rescued off Wildwood and Wildwood Crest; two of them did not survive. A man died trying to swim across Harry Wright Lake in Whiting and two Bayonne brothers, 16 and 19, drowned last week while swimming in the deep end of a town pool that had just opened for the summer. Also, in mid May, an 18-year-old Maine boy died after he and his sister, 17, were digging a 10-foot-deep sand tunnel in Toms River and the sand collapsed on them, trapping them. His sister survived.

1 Teen Dies, 1 Rescued From Sand Collapse On Toms River Beach: Police