Can't swim and no floatation. It seems like this happens a couple of times a year around here. I feel bad for his family, it would be terrible to loose someone like this.<br /><br /><br />April 20th<br /><br />Teen drowns after raft sinks at Lake Wylie<br /><br />Olympic High grad unable to reach safety; 3 companions OK<br /><br /><br />A teenager drowned Wednesday when he and three friends tried to escape a sinking makeshift raft near Copperhead Island on Lake Wylie.<br /><br />They were celebrating an unofficial "senior skip day" at Olympic High School.<br /><br />Rescue divers discovered the teen's body about 2:30 p.m. a short distance from a boat dock he was trying to reach for safety, authorities said.<br /><br />Police refused to disclose the teen's name, address or exact age. They would only say that he was a black male, age 18 or 19.<br /><br />It took rescuers about 16 minutes to find him. He was pronounced dead at the scene as medics tried to resuscitate him.<br /><br />The teen and three other youths were using a homemade plywood raft to go fishing when it began to capsize about 15 to 20 feet from the dock, police and fire officials said.<br /><br />The teens fled the raft and attempted to swim to safety. At least one of them was helped out of the water by another boater, said David Rose, battalion chief for the Charlotte Fire Department.<br /><br />"It was real sad," Rose said. "The (friends) swam to the dock and they thought he was with them."<br /><br />Authorities suspect three of the teens were students at Olympic High, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Mandy Giannini, department spokeswoman.<br /><br />The drowning victim was a graduate of the school, she said.
