The dangers of swimming in Lake Lanier

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Lake Lanier is a popular destination on these hot summer days, but it can also be dangerous. A 23-year-old man drowned while swimming in the lake this weekend. It's the third drowning there since July, the seventh of the whole year. FOX 5 learned how you and your family can stay safe.

HALL COUNTY, Ga. - Georgia Department of Natural Resources officials say 23-year-old Edgar Steven Cruz Martinez became the seventh person to drown in Lake Lanier this year while swimming in the waterway over the weekend. On Saturday, Martinez went under the water and never resurfaced. Game wardens found his body in 10 feet of water.

Two other men died after swimming in the lake on July 31 and another man was electrocuted after jumping off a dock on July 27.

"A lot of people aren’t used to swimming in choppy water. It’s not like a pool out here. It’s completely different, so you can get swept out pretty easy," Georgia DNR Game Warder Cody Tanner explained.

Game Wardens say there are a number of different safety risks people can encounter anytime they enter the water.

"With it being the end of the summer, it gets brutally hot out here sometimes, with the water being warm as well. People don’t realize they’re dehydrating, and they’ll get out pretty deep and their legs will start locking up, and they’ll go straight down," Tanner said.

23-YEAR-OLD MAN DIES SATURDAY AFTERNOON WHILE SWIMMING AT LAKE LANIER

He said wearing a life jacket is also key to protect you if something goes wrong.

"One-hundred percent of the people that we pulled up from the bottom weren’t wearing life jackets," Tanner said.

"Be smart about what you drink. We want you to have fun, but we want you to be safe as well, so just pay attention make sure you’re doing everything right," he added.

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