During a particularly busy spring, Lake Pleasant has seen a drowning every weekend for the past four weeks.
“This is almost out of control and unheard of. And it’s only May 17. And we really want to prevent people from ending their lives by drowning in our waterways,” said Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Detective Rob Marske.
The trend led MCSO to hold a news briefing at the lake Tuesday morning with tips on how to stay safe ahead of Memorial Day weekend, which is the lake’s busiest weekend of the year.
“We want everyone to come out, have a good time, but at the same time we don’t want it to end in tragedy,” said MCSO Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez. “And look, no one comes out here thinking there’s going to be a tragedy.”
Aside from the four drownings, two brothers died from hypothermia in February when their canoe capsized. Enriquez said there also have been a high number of rescues, 21 so far.
“That’s already 21 too many,” he said.
The main tips MCSO recommended were to wear life jackets and for swimmers to know their personal limitations. Marske said young men and boys in particular tend to overestimate their swimming abilities. All but one of the drowning deaths were males in their teens or early 20s. The other was an 83-year-old woman whose boat capsized.
Those drownings were:
On Sunday, April 24, 20-year-old man Neria Aranbayev drowned.
The following Sunday, May 1, a man in his early 20s was swimming in the lake and drowned. His identity was not released.
On Sunday, May 8, an 83-year-old woman was thrown from a boat and was seriously hurt. Other boaters pulled her out of the water, but she eventually died at the hospital. She was later identified as Rosario Benitez.
This past Sunday, May 15, an 18-year-old man drowned while trying to swim in the lake. His identity was not released.
The two brothers who died from hypothermia were 22-year-old Arimus Nazareth and 14-year-old Apolo Nazareth. That incident was Friday, Feb. 18. A third person was in the canoe but sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Marske said high winds can make the lake more dangerous, causing swimmers to get fatigued trying to swim back to a boat or flotation device they’ve been separated from.
“This body of water is very open. You can feel the breeze that we have already. It will just build up over the course of the day,” he said. “So, what tends to happen, if people get separated from their inflatable tube or their raft or if they fall off their standup paddleboard or kayak, they get separated from it. The wind blows it away. They try to swim after it. They get exhausted or they catch a cramp, but usually it’s exhaustion. And then they succumb to that.”
Large gatherings also tend to increase the likelihood of a drowning, he said. Each of the four recent drownings happened on a Sunday.
“Just people not really thinking about the repercussions or the potential of what could happen,” Marske said.
With warmer weather and people eager to get out and do things as the pandemic wanes, lakes in Maricopa County have been very popular this year.
“We’ve been experiencing record-setting numbers here and at all our lakes since Easter,” which they view as the start of the season, Marske said. “These shorelines are full on the weekends, at all our lakes. We’ve been having to close down our recreation sites sometimes as early as 9 in the morning because we’re at parking capacity.”
Alcohol impairment can also be a factor in drownings, impairing the judgment of people in the water, though MCSO did not say if any of the recent drownings involved impairment. Marske also noted alcohol can have a multiplying affect in the heat.
“With the heat and the sun exposure, being out in the weather all day long, it can be multiplied,” he said. “One alcoholic beverage in a normal, controlled environment in your living room or at a bar, actually you can feel the effects twice out here because of the environmental factors as well.”
Mark Carlisle can be reached at mcarlisle@iniusa.org or found on Twitter @mwcarlisle.
Mark Carlisle Associate Editor | Phoenix @mwcarlisle
Mark Carlisle joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, covering Glendale. He has since moved to the Daily Independent team, primarily covering the city of Phoenix along with other topics affecting the Valley at-large.
Community: Mark enjoys taking his two young sons to parks, the Phoenix Zoo, the Phoenix Public Library and other fun events around the Valley. He also participates in a local book club.
Education: Chapman University with a BA in English Journalism and one in Screenwriting.
Random Fact: Mark worked at a tuxedo shop in college. Just don’t ask him to tie a bowtie.
Hobbies: Spending time with his wife, sons and dog, watching sports and TV shows, listening to audiobooks and occasionally writing fiction or designing a board game.
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