Predawn Swim After Drinking Is Fatal

A man believed to have drowned on a predawn swim with a friend Friday in the surf along Will Rogers State Beach was identified Saturday as a 20-year-old vacationer from Sacramento.

Michael Mahon reportedly had been drinking heavily before he decided to go swimming, Detective Jim Lewis said. After an eight-hour search by firefighters, lifeguards and the Coast Guard, efforts to find Mahon were suspended.

Mahon and a friend, also 20, were on vacation and staying at a motel in Los Angeles. They decided to go swimming about 4:45 a.m., Los Angeles County Lifeguard Lt. Randy DeGregori said.

“They were swimming and ducked under some waves, then the (friend) couldn’t find his partner,” DeGregori said. Lifeguards failed to turn up Mahon, Lewis said.