Sometime this past Sunday a man reportedly took to the waters and swam from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island and back... successfully! Well, sort of. He was handed two summons for his East River swim. The Roosevelt Island blog refers to RI's public safety report from that day (which was quite rainy and windy), it states, "Investigation/ Reckless Endangerment—A male swam from the FDR straight across to Roosevelt Island. NYPD/ESU, and PSD responded. Male was fine. EMS refused. NYPD issued subject two summonses." more ›

Suffolk County police say that a Brooklyn man drowned off East Moriches, Long Island and another is missing. According to The Southampton Press, "Deng Zheng, 26, and his friend, Xiangyong Chen, 31, also of Brooklyn, were swimming approximately 50 yards from shore in an unsupervised area of Cupsogue Beach when a large wave apparently swamped them... The men started to swim to shore, but were not seen after the wave broke." Their two friends got the attention of lifeguards, who were on a workout run. The lifeguards found Zheng and performed CPR, but he was pronouced dead at a hospital. Chen was not found. The National Weather Service had warned about rip tide currents and for swimmers to avoid unsupervised beaches. more ›

A swimmer is missing and presumed dead off of Long Beach. WCBS 2 reports, "a 19-year-old Brooklyn man was wading about knee-deep in the water with three friends, but the strong current off the jetty soon sucked all four of them out to sea." Only the three friends could swim, and officials were unable to find Baruch College student Emanuel Tiburcio. Long Beach City Manager Charles Theofan said, "Unfortunately, not even the best swimmer could survive in water that rough and that cold." more ›

Authorities think a 22-year-old man may have drowned last night, in an attempt to rescue a friend. According to the NY Post, Anthony Bolden, 21, went with his sister and his friend Jacob Reid, 20, to an area of [Jacob Riis Park] near Beach 149th Street just before 8 p.m."—a time with no lifeguards on duty. Bolden's sister said, "Jacob couldn't stay up in the water. The water kept pulling him in, so Anthony went in to get him." However, Reid managed to emerge, Bolden never did; the water reportedly had "four-foot waves" and "wind speed was nine miles per hour at the time of the 911 call." The search was suspended last night around 10 p.m. but has resumed this morning. Over the weekend, a teen died after getting caught in a Rockaways riptide and the Post raised the question of lifeguards wearing iPods while on duty. more ›

Newsday called yesterday a "deadly day for the Island's ocean beaches," given two people drowned and two are still missing after being dragged into the waters. Two men went missing off Jacob Riis Park in Queens; one 21-year-old was rescued by divers, bu a 23-year-old is still missing. At Long Beach, 18-year-old and 22-year-old cousins were swept out; the older cousin was rescued but later died while the younger is still missing. And 25-year-old man drowned off Southampton. The Coast Guard said "riptides were particularly strong [yesterday]," and a meteorologist told Newsday, "If you become caught in a rip current, stay calm and don't fight it. Swim parallel to the shore until you break free from the current," and when you're out, swim at an angle towards the beach, "A lot of people panic. You should float or tread water." more ›