MARQUETTE, MI-- Two swimmers are lucky to be alive, after they were caught in heavy Lake Superior surf in Marquette Sunday.
The Marquette City Fire Department was called to McCarty’s Cove around 11:25 a.m. on a report that two swimmers were in the water and one was no longer visible from shore.
The U.S. Coast Guard, Marquette Police Department, and Sheriff’s Department Dive Team were also dispatched to the scene. While en route, the responding units learned one swimmer had made it to shore, but the other was stranded on a rock formation just northeast of Lighthouse Point.
A rescue swimmer from the fire department was sent out in the space between the cliff face and rock formation but was unable to reach the victim. A second swimmer made it to the rocks and put a personal flotation device on the swimmer with a line attached so both could swim with the surf to the beach.
UPHS Marquette EMS and Central Dispatch assisted in the incident.
Fire officials say residents need to be aware of the dangers of high surf and changing water conditions on and around Marquette's shorelines.
