A 20-year-old Santa Rosa man on Tuesday afternoon became the fifth Russian River swimming fatality in two months.
His body was pulled from the water at Sunset Beach near Forestville around 5:30 p.m. His name was not released by authorities, pending notification of his family.
Sheriff's officials said the man was swimming with two companions — his male cousin and a female friend — when he got into trouble.
"He started thrashing, he went under and that's the last they saw," said Sonoma County Sheriff's Lt. Steve Brown.
The apparent drowning was first reported shortly after 4 p.m.
Rescue divers were brought in to search while the Highway Patrol helicopter hovered overhead, its crew scanning the murky, green waters.
After about an hour, the young man's body was found by a diver in about 10 feet of water, close to the spot where he was last seen.
"They said they weren't using drugs or alcohol," Brown said of the victim's companions, who stood by on the river bank watching the search. "They were just swimming."
"They said they were all able to swim. They were not poor swimmers," he said.
The companions declined comment to a reporter.
The fatal incident was unusual in that Sunset Beach is known as a tranquil spot on the river with few obvious hazards.
"There's no current there. It's a nice place to get wet. It seems like a safe bet," said Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman, who has responded to many drownings over the years.
"It's a sad thing. There's too many drownings. There's no reason for them," he said.
Tuesday's death happened about a mile downstream from Steelhead Beach, where a 13-year-old swimmer drowned over the weekend.
Eduardo Nery Corona was with family friends at the crowded beach when he slipped beneath the surface. He died a day later at Oakland Children's Hospital.
A Santa Rosa man who couldn't swim was wading in slow-moving waters at Steelhead Beach on May 20 when he went under. The body of Juan Moreno-Garcia, 27, was found about two hours later.
And on July 15, Margaret Hinsdale Pometta, 50, of San Mateo, died of a heart attack while swimming at Johnson's Beach in the competition for the Ironman 70.3 Vineman Triathlon.
Earlier this month Coretz Holmes, 54, of Santa Rosa, who couldn't swim, apparently drowned in Riverfront Regional park in a large pond adjacent to the river near Windsor after he slipped off an inner tube.
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