A person who drowned at Tugboat Bay was participating in the annual Across the Lake Swim, Kelowna RCMP have confirmed.
Emergency crews were called to the bay on Saturday morning, July 18. According to Cpl. Steven Lang, media relations officer with the Kelowna RCMP, police were alerted to a drowning in the area.
“They were a part of the Across the Lake swim yesterday,” he said.
Lang added he did not have the exact circumstances of how the victim was found, but added that strong headwinds on Okanagan Lake likely contributed to the incident.
“Due to a number of factors, likely including the fact that the wind and the current were quite prevalent yesterday, they succumbed to the lake conditions,” he said.
Lang said the BC Ambulance attempted to revive the person at Tugboat Bay but failed to do so.
He added that the RCMP are investigating the incident.
During a drowning prevention event at Gyro Beach on Sunday, July 19, Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas offered his condolences to the drowned person’s family.
“We offer condolences to those families whose lives have been forever changed, and especially to the family who lost their loved one in the Across the Lake Swim,” Dyas said.
The Across the Lake incident was the fifth drowning incident over the last four weeks on Okanagan Lake. In B.C., there have been over 30 drownings this year.