COWLITZ COUNTY, Wash. — There have been at least two drownings in the region in the past few days, including a 15-year-old who went swimming in the Cowlitz River on Saturday with a group of friends. Although two of the three made it back to shore, Zander Medina did not survive, the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office reported.
In the wake of this tragedy, the dive team that responded to the call on Saturday spoke with KGW about the unseen dangers under the surface of rivers.
"This time of year, it's very inviting," said Jayson Rogen, a volunteer for Cowlitz County Dive Rescue. "The surface current looks like there is barely anything going on."
As he explained further, that's not the case at all. On average, the team responds to about a dozen calls a month during the summer, but sometimes even more in especially hot weather.
"What looks really calm on the surface, just a couple feet below is very swift. People swim out a little ways, and all of the sudden, they feel the current start taking them, and it does help pull them down river and under a little bit," he said.
Rogen said that's what happened at a popular river spot in Kelso last weekend. A group of teenage boys, enjoying their day out on the water, tried to swim across the other side.
"They made it a little ways across and found that the current was a lot more than they were ready for," he said. "They tried to turn around. A few of them got caught in the current."
Someone on shore noticed the boys struggling and jumped in, pulling one of three from the water. The second teen made it out, but officials said the third, Zander Medina, did not.
When the dive team arrived, Rogen said they immediately started searching underwater.
"We did bring a couple boats out to try to see if there was any sign where he could've gotten out," he said. "We did get entangled a few times. Just because there is a lot of things underwater that you cannot, even with scuba divers we got entangled in fishing line and some other ropes that were down there."
Five minutes later, they recovered the teen's body, not far from where he went under.
"It's a horrible incident and we're just there to try and get some closure for the family," he said.
Rogen said they get many calls from people who weren't ready for the current, or weren't ready for how long it takes to float down the river. His advice: Be prepared and bring your lifejacket.
"It keeps your head up. It keeps you in an upright position where you're able to breathe even if you get knocked unconscious. If you don't have that, you're at the mercy of the water," he said.