Two men drowned Thursday afternoon while swimming across a northwest section of the Prettyboy Reservoir in Baltimore County, bringing to 16 the total number of drowning deaths this summer in Maryland waters, officials said.
Divers pulled the bodies of Adam Klank, 22, and Justin Smith, 21, both of Shrewsbury, Pa., out of the reservoir at about 7:45 p.m., nearly four hours after the men took off their clothes and set out swimming across a 150-foot span of water, a county fire department spokesman said.
“It?s not a safe place to swim. Who knows what?s lying underneath the water?” Lt. Vernon Adamson said. “If they go swimming out in a large area and they get a cramp, or something takes them for whatever reason, they?re not close ? there?s no help close by.”
County officials are reacting to the sudden surge in drowning deaths with increased patrol of the shoreline and the reservoir area by water, land and air, said Capt. Martin Lurz, commander of the Cockeysville Precinct.
Signs posted around the water alert visitors to the swimming ban. But police often rely on people to call and report swimmers, Lurz said. Long, steep trails separate much of the reservoir from the roads, he said, and “we can?t get patrol cars back there.”
Betty Yeager took her 14-year-old son fishing around an inlet in the reservoir Friday afternoon, down a steep path off Beckleysville Road. A Freeland resident and regular visitor to the reservoir, she said she?s seen children jump off the nearby bridge and swim in the water.
“Maybe for a thrill?” Yeager said of why people would disregard the signs and get in the water. “They have pools they can go to. If they want to get wet, get the hose.”
Klank and Smith set out across the reservoir Thursday afternoon leaving a teenage girl behind on the shore, Adamson said. Smith made it across but realized Klank was in trouble, struggling in water about 8 to 10 feet deep, and swam back to help, officials said. The girl climbed up a path away from the shore, got on a cell phone and called for help, Adamson said, as Klank and Smith popped up out of the water and then went down again. The two men were found holding onto each other, Adamson said.
