LYDGATE — A man drowned in waters off Lydgate Beach Saturday afternoon. The 65-year-old man from New York was swimming on the south end of Lydgate Beach when he was swept out in a riptide current. “He was too far
LYDGATE — A man drowned in waters off Lydgate Beach Saturday afternoon.
The 65-year-old man from New York was swimming on the south end of Lydgate Beach when he was swept out in a riptide current.
“He was too far out,” said a member of the man’s family, who wished not to be identified.
Kaua‘i Police were notified of a swimmer in distress at 3:25 p.m.
Lifeguards from the Lydgate and Kealia Beach towers, along with firefighters from the Kapa‘a Station and a county park ranger responded to the scene.
The man was unresponsive when rescuers found him further south of the area where he was last seen swimming, around 25 yards off shore.
Firefighters immediately began performing CPR and applied an Automated External Defibrillator but no shock was advised.
Medics continued CPR en route to Wilcox Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Conditions in the area were “extremely rough,” a lifeguard stationed at Lydgate said, adding that the rough wave conditions are “typical” during winter months.
Lifeguards traveled along Lydgate Beach late Saturday warning beachgoers to avoid certain areas of the ocean where waters were especially turbulent.
Life’s Bridges Kaua‘i, a team of volunteers who
offer bereavement service for visitors, are standing by to see if the family is in need of support, said Sue Kanoho, executive director of Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau.
This is the fourth reported ocean drowning on Kaua‘i this year, after two men from California drowned in the Kalihiwai area on Jan. 18.
There are currently no weather or ocean advisories in effect for the County of Kaua‘i.
For weather updates, visit the Hawai‘i National Weather Service website at www.weather.gov/hawai‘i online.
For information on ocean and hiking conditions on Kaua‘i, visit www.KauaiExplorer.com or call 241-SURF to check on the most recent surf conditions before heading to locations around the island.
The incorrect number of drowning on Kaua‘i were stated. There have been four drownings so far this year.
