Updated at 8:45 a.m. Thursday — The Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service resumed its search Thursday morning for a missing man who apparently got caught in an undercurrent after swimming in the Potomac River Wednesday.
Swift water rescue boats from the Rescue Service were called to the river near Great Falls at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday for the report of two swimmers in the water.
The Rescue Service originally thought the two swimmers, both men, were boaters. Piringer told Montgomery Community Media that the boaters seen in the water were actually trying to help the swimmers.
One of the men was able to swim to shore. Piringer said rescue personnel initially were told the two involved were jumping off a cliff into the river near Sandy Landing on the Virginia side. He later said the two were just swimming and the one who disappeared ventured farther out toward the middle of the river.
Piringer said the missing man appeared to get caught up in a current before disappearing.
"We hope that he made it to shoreline and maybe went back to his car," Piringer told Montgomery Community Media. "We continue to work through all those issues."
Rescue boats from Montgomery County and Virginia took part in the search Wednesday. Piringer said MCFRS boat teams were actually training nearby at the time of the call. A U.S. Park Police helicopter surveyed the river and shorelines from above. MCFRS resumed its search at 9 a.m. Thursday.
MCFRS has set up its incident command post off MacArthur Boulevard near the Old Angler’s Inn.
Swimming in the section of the Potomac River around Great Falls, known as the Potomac River Gorge, is prohibited because of powerful currents under the water that often aren’t visible from the surface.
Safety officials from Montgomery County have frequently urged people not to step foot into the water.
In June 2013, a Takoma Park man drowned while swimming in the river near the popular Billy Goat Trail.
Piringer said both men involved are in their 20s. No other information about their identities was available as of Wednesday morning.
