{"id":238898,"date":"2026-05-21T02:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T02:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/238898\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T02:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T02:15:10","slug":"search-resumes-for-missing-nyc-swimmer-days-before-beaches-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/238898\/","title":{"rendered":"Search resumes for missing NYC swimmer days before beaches open"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROCKAWAY, Queens (PIX11) \u2014 The search resumed Wednesday in the Rockaways for a missing swimmer<\/a> in what appears to be the first drowning incident of the beach season, even though the official season does not begin until Saturday.<\/p>\n

Swimming is only permitted from Memorial Day through Labor Day, when lifeguards are on duty daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in designated beach areas.<\/p>\n

Discover more local reporting on our homepage <\/a><\/p>\n

The waves are often seen as calming, and a day at the beach is usually associated with fun and relaxation.<\/p>\n

Anisthesia, preparing for the summer season in the Rockaways, joined others Wednesday for a stroll along the boardwalk and time in the sand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the beach, but I wouldn\u2019t swim without the lifeguards there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Visitors were also reflecting on a tragic reminder about water safety and the dangers of strong ocean currents.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday afternoon, around Beach 73rd Street, a group of students entered the water, and an 18-year-old swimmer became caught in a current.<\/p>\n

Michael was also at the beach Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Witnesses said a friend attempted to rescue the teen, but the waves and strong currents made conditions difficult.<\/p>\n

For more on what\u2019s happening in your area, head to our homepage <\/a><\/p>\n

Claudia, a local resident and frequent beach visitor, said more public education about water safety is needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s up to us to teach them what to do in these situations, especially being a coastal city,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A large-scale search involving the NYPD Harbor Unit, FDNY, the Coast Guard, divers, drones and marine units continued into Tuesday night before resuming Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

The teenager had not been found as of Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel bad for the family,\u201d said Tito, another beachgoer.<\/p>\n

Officials warn that rip currents can quickly sweep swimmers far from shore, creating dangerous conditions even for experienced swimmers.<\/p>\n

Closed sections are marked with signs and\/or red flags.<\/p>\n

More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State <\/a><\/p>\n

Public beaches officially open for swimming this Saturday, with lifeguards scheduled to be on duty daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

The city says\u00a0the Parks Department had more than 1,000 lifeguards staffing beaches and pool in summer 2025, the highest total since 2019. It was a 23% increase in new recruits from 2024.<\/p>\n

Lifeguards are recertified in the month of July.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ROCKAWAY, Queens (PIX11) \u2014 The search resumed Wednesday in the Rockaways for a missing swimmer in what appears…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[89800,81735,9,56,63,65,64,93353,89817],"class_list":["post-238898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-beach-season","tag-memorial-day","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-ocean-currents","tag-swimmer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}