This was the second drowning in Spring Lake in two weeks.

Highlands man drowns off Spring Lake beach
by MaryAnn Spoto/The Star-Ledger
Monday September 08, 2008, 12:04 PM
A Highlands man drowned Sunday afternoon in Spring Lake after getting caught in strong rip currents and large waves, authorities said today.

Luke Walsh, 38, was pronounced dead at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune where he was rushed after his body was pulled from the surf on the Washington Avenue beach, said Spring Lake Police Chief Robert Dawson Jr.

This was the second drowning in Spring Lake in two weeks.

Beautiful weather brought tourists to the Jersey Shore on Sunday, but many beaches, including Spring Lake, had no lifeguards on duty post-Labor Day.

"For a post-Labor Day, they were fairly crowded,'' Dawson said of Spring Lake beaches. ?There was a decent crowd on hand.''

Dawson said lifeguards were working at the township's two freshwater pools, in pavilions at the north and south ends of town.

Police received calls about a swimmer in distress at the Newark Avenue beach around 3:55 p.m., Dawson said.

Skeleton lifeguard crews from neighboring Sea Girt and Belmar responded, as did volunteers from Sea Girt, Spring Lake and Manasquan responding to the after-hours pager system, Dawson said.

With the assistance of surfers in the area, lifeguards pulled Walsh's body to shore on the Newark Avenue beach, one jetty south of where he was reported to be in distress.

Dawson said reports of a second swimmer in distress launched a search by lifeguards and the U.S. Coast Guard, but the search was called off after four hours when the water became too treacherous and police had indications that no one else was missing.

About 50 lifeguards formed a search line stretching into the ocean and the Coast Guard had two boats and a helicopter for four hours before the search was called off around 9:45 p.m., Dawson said.

He said there were no missing persons reports, no unattended beach articles and no unattended vehicles to indicate a second swimmer drowned.

Dawson said Walsh went to the beach by himself.

Rip currents from the remnants of Hurricane Hanna were still causing trouble at the Jersey Shore and the storm whipped up waves as high as 10 feet on Sunday.

On Aug. 24, Scott Kirton, 37, of Jersey City, drowned in rough surf off Spring Lake's Atlantic Avenue beach while lifeguards were on duty.

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