A 20-year-old man drowned Sunday afternoon while trying to swim across a cove at Lake Allatoona, going underwater before he could reach the opposite shoreline and never coming back up. Georgia game wardens say the man was later pulled from the water near Websters Day Use Area after crews searched the cove with sonar equipment.
Emergency responders were called to Lake Allatoona Sunday for a drowning, according to local radio station WBHF. Witnesses told authorities the swimmer began struggling partway across the cove before slipping underwater, as first detailed by WSB-TV. Game wardens and Bartow County Fire and Rescue responded to the scene, and crews eventually located and recovered the body using sonar. The remains were turned over to the Bartow County Coroner's Office.
An Earlier Adult Drowning on the Lake This Summer
Months before the cove drowning, 28-year-old Fidel Ojwang of Lilburn drowned after entering the water from a ski boat near Glade Marina on July 5, a case Hoodline covered in an overnight search that ended in tragedy.
Federal researchers have documented a broader national trend.
Why Adult Swimmers Are Most at Risk
Federal data published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District shows that adult males account for nearly 90 percent of all drowning victims at Corps-managed lakes and reservoirs nationwide.
Statewide, the numbers underscore how deadly Georgia's waterways have become in 2026. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources recorded 66 drownings and 10 boating fatalities across the state's waterways in 2025, according to 11Alive. Even before Memorial Day weekend arrived this year, DNR officials had already logged 14 drownings and four boating fatalities statewide.
Free Life Jackets Available
Life-jacket loaner boards are a safety program.
As of Tuesday, no additional details about the drowning, including a possible cause beyond drowning, had been released by authorities.
