Remembrance at Healdsburg beach
Death of second Latino man in 1 week highlights dangers

By Laura Norton
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Saturday, June 21, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
* Russian River drowning victim ID'd

The Russian River took yet another life of a Latino man who lost his footing, fell, sank and drowned Friday because he was unable to swim.

The victim's friend called out desperately for help in Spanish to more than 30 swimmers near Healdsburg's Memorial Beach just after 2 p.m.

But rescue attempts failed and the 21-year-old man was pulled to shore about 15 minutes later. He was the second Latino man in a week to drown in the Russian River, where 18 Latino men and women have drowned since 2000.

Common factors include easy access to the river, a pleasant time in shallow waters often wearing shoes and long pants, and then a mistake or fall that proves fatal for individuals who grew up without learning to swim.

After the cry for help Friday, several would-be rescuers ran up the riverbank to the place where the two men had been picnicking.

"I took off my pants. I took off my shirt. I dove in, and we all kept diving looking for him," said Jaclyn Van Cleave, 18, of Windsor.

The swimmers dove for approximately 15 minutes while the victim's friend, who could not swim, stayed on shore.

When they found him, the impromptu citizens' rescue crew knew the man could not be saved.

"As I was pulling him, his lips were blue," Van Cleave said. "I knew he was gone."

The man's name has not been released, pending notification of his family.

Healdsburg police officials said the man and his 29-year-old friend came to the river for a picnic and were wading around.

"What happened next was his friend saw him thrashing around in the water," said Healdsburg Police Officer Katie Close. "By the time he ran all the way back with help, he was all the way submerged."

Healdsburg police, Healdsburg fire and Sonoma County sheriff's officials responded to the drowning, which was reported at 2:05 p.m.

Close said the man had been brought to shore by the time emergency crews arrived on scene at 2:11 p.m.

Since 2004, when safety educators and law enforcement officials first documented a dramatically increased likelihood of Latinos drowning compared with non-Latinos, officials have attempted to provide warnings at beaches and swimming education in the Latino community.

"If they don't come from an area with a lot of water, learning to swim isn't a part of the culture," said Ellen Marmont Silver, Red Cross spokeswoman. "It's at this time of year, when it's very hot out and the river seems placid, it seems very safe and people go in not prepared, wearing boots or shoes and not knowing how to swim."

The county began posting seasonal signs warning of risks such as sudden changes in depth in the river. The signs are in both English and Spanish, in part because 18 of the 30 drowning victims in the Russian River in the past eight years have been Latinos.

More signs are needed, said Rosiris Guerra, health and safety director with the Sonoma and Mendocino Counties Red Cross.

"People need to know: Be careful in the water, don't drink and swim, don't swim when it's too early," Guerra said. "They need to know the rules."

With written information in English and Spanish and a few illustrations about water safety, Guerra hopes to beef up water safety education where it is most lacking: on Sonoma County's free and low-cost river, lake and ocean beaches.

More bilingual signs are on their way and will soon be posted at regional parks and beaches from Spring Lake in Santa Rosa to Healdsburg's Memorial Beach, Guerra said.

Other education-based Spanish-language programs are currently under way.

Today, Spanish-speaking families in Sebastopol are invited to Vamos a Nadar, a mini-swim lesson for kids and a water safety education lecture for parents, at the Ives Pool on Willow Street.

About 400 kids ages 5 to 18 and their parents are expected to attend Vamos a Nadar classes this summer in Sonoma County.

"It is such a preventable death that it makes it even more sad," Guerra said. "That someone died when they could have been saved by learning to swim or wearing a life jacket; this is a big problem and we are trying to solve it."

On June 13, Carlos Manzo, 39, of Oakland drowned in the Russian River just off Monte Rio Beach shortly before 5:30 p.m.

Manzo went into the water to rescue his 10-year-old daughter but became distressed himself, according to a statement from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.

Manzo's daughter was safely brought to shore.

You can reach Staff Writer Laura Norton at 521-5220

or laura.norton@

pressdemocrat.com.

PRESS DEMOCRAT