Man dies skinny dipping off Ocean Beach, San Diego at night

A man was skinny dipping with friends in the water off Ocean Beach in San Diego early Wednesday morning when he was caught in a rip tide.

The 27-year-old was reportedly swimming with four friends at approximately 4 a.m., just north of the pier and Ocean Beach Park when the incident happened.

According to his friends, the victim went a bit further than the rest of the group and that was when they couldn't find him and called 911. They said that just prior to the incident, the man appeared to be struggling in the water.

San Diego Fire Rescue Lt. Andy Lerum said they found the man quickly, but he was unconscious with no steady heartbeat.

Reportedly emergency personnel performed CPR on the man and he was rushed to UCSD, where he was pronounced dead some hours later.

Lerum explained how dangerous it was to swim in that area, especially late at night. He said the swimmer may have gotten caught in a rip current and couldn’t get back to shore.

"In that area we make a lot of rescues there during the day," he said.

"There's a rip current there just next to the jetty and we suspect he struggled in the water and was caught in that rip current," Lerum added. 

The victim has not been named, but officials did say he was a Mexicali resident.

Lerum went on to warn that while the water temperatures are currently in the mid-70s, it might be tempting to swim at night, but officials advise against swimming at night without lifeguards on duty. 

Source: NBC
Photo by Nathan Rupert/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0