Search Resumes for Body of Swimmer

As lifeguards continued searching Monday for a 38-year-old San Bernardino man presumed drowned off Newport Beach, family members gathered at the water’s edge to mourn their loss.

Relatives stood hand-in-hand in a circle near a lifeguard tower while Norma Dodd spoke of grandson Willie McFarland’s last visit to her home Sunday morning. Excited about Sunday’s basketball game, he showed off his Lakers cap and teased his grandmother.

“He was just real happy,” Dodd recalled Monday, fighting back tears.

Both relatives and lifeguards said they had given up hope of finding McFarland alive. Lifeguards believe he was caught in a riptide, and was unable to swim ashore.

“It’s a recovery [effort] . . . not a rescue,” said John Bauer, spokesman for the Newport Beach Fire and Marine Department.

McFarland apparently ignored the red flags warning of unsafe water conditions at the beach near 56th Street when he went swimming with three people about 5 p.m. Sunday.

Two others rescued Sunday were identified by Newport Beach police as Wesley Dodd, 14, and Mary Windship, 27, both of San Bernardino. They were treated at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and released Sunday, a hospital spokeswoman said. A fourth person, an unidentified man also caught in the riptide, was helped ashore by a swimmer.

“I don’t think he had planned on going out as far as he did, but he got pulled by the wave,” Bauer said of McFarland. “All indications are that he could not have been a very strong swimmer.”

Bauer said that this time of year is particularly dangerous because of the riptides.

Everyone needs “to use caution and read the warning signs,” Bauer said. “Don’t overestimate your ability in the water.”

McFarland was the fourth swimmer to be caught in riptides in the waters off Newport Beach this year. Last month, in separate incidents, a 17-year-old from Santa Ana drowned near Newport Pier, and two siblings ages 10 and 13 were rescued near 24th Street.

On Sunday, the four swimmers apparently got caught in a riptide about 100 yards offshore. No other swimmers were within 200 yards of them because a red flag signaling dangerous conditions had kept most people out of the water.

Lifeguards became aware of the emergency about 5:17 p.m. Nine snorkelers, two patrol boats and a helicopter searched in vain for the man Sunday night.

Saddened family members described McFarland as a loving father of two teenage children, and a man who enjoyed the beach and the water. His aunt, Elizabeth Sneed, said she last saw McFarland after church Sunday morning.

“He was clowning with everybody--he was being Willie,” Sneed said. “It’s just so sad. He just had a grandson in August, and he was going to have another one. Now, he’s not going to be here.”

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Deadly Currents

Two swimmers have been victims of riptides off Newport Beach in the last week. How such currents form:

*

Spotting Riptides

* Frothy, brown water

* Incoming waves flattened

*

Escaping the Pull

* Don’t panic or swim against current.

* Once current wanes, swim parallel to shore.

* When possible, ride incoming waves.

Avoiding Rip Currents

Rip currents can stretch up to 50 feet across and reach out several hundred yards past the surf line. How to escape a rip current:

1. Don’t fight the rip current, allow it to carry you seaward

2. Swim parallel to shore after the current weakens

3. When possible swim or ride waves toward shore

Source: Newport Beach Fire and Marine Department

Graphics reporting by BRADY MacDONALD / Los Angeles Times