Swimmer drowns in Lake Nokomis

BY SKY HORNIG

A diver from the Hennepin County Sheriffs Office recovered the body of Alejandro Gonzales, 26, from Lake Nokomis around 7 p.m., three hours after he drowned, last Friday, June 30.

Gonzales’ body was found about 40 feet from the east beach shore in approximately seven feet of water.

Apparently, Gonzales and two co-workers stopped at the lake for a swim after work. Gonzales made a bet with his co-workers that he could swim out to a white buoy that marks the lake’s severe depth drop from 7 feet to 15 feet.

Julie Anderson, spokeswoman for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, reports that Gonzales jumped into the lake far left of the designated beach area and was thus out of sight to the lifeguard on duty. When he began to struggle, his co-worker, Arturo De La Cruz, also 26, swam out to help. However, Gonzales pulled him down. The lifeguard became aware of the two men and was able to retrieve De La Cruz, but when the lifeguard went back for Gonzales, he had already gone under.

The tragedy is a grave reminder that while our lakes are a beautiful gift, we must enjoy them according to the rules. Most native Minnesotans grew up using lakes and are well versed in buoy “language.” It is easy to forget that a buoy could appear to be a goal, rather than a warning sign, to non-native Minnesotans. (Gonzalez, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office reports, was Hispanic.)

Currently, the “Beach Rules” include “Swim only within marked areas,” and swim areas are designated by a rope of red buoys and larger white buoys that read “Swim Area.” But what if you don’t speak English? Although the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board does not currently conduct in-house research on statistics, it is evident they are aware their beach-going population includes Spanish speakers because a large “Keep The Beaches Healthy” sign is translated in Spanish. Inevitably, as the Minneapolis population changes, so too will park users. And currently, as park board spokesperson Dawn Sommers points out, in excess of a dozen languages are spoken in the city—which makes for a pretty big sign.

Comissioner Carol Kummer of District 5, which includes Lake Nokomis, has not discussed changing the language of signage as of yet, however she “suppose[s] [it] will be a subject for discussion in the future.” She also points out that the current buoys are bigger and brighter than their former ones. “Of course we do our very best to make people aware of what the boundaries are.”