Tragic end to search for missing swimmer at Lake Eildon

A body has been pulled from the water at Lake Eildon following a search for a man who vanished while swimming with friends.

A man was swimming with friends near Jerusalem Creek Track when he went underwater and did not resurface at about 4:30pm.

The search for a missing swimmer at Lake Eildon has ended in tragedy.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner after a man was found dead on Monday morning.

The man is believed to be the 34-year-old swimmer who went missing on Sunday.

It comes after emergency services launched a desperate search for the man, who appeared to get into difficulty and disappeared underwater while swimming near Jerusalem Creek Track about 4.30pm on Sunday.

The man’s friends, who were swimming with him at the time, raised the alarm.

Local police with assistance of the Air Wing, Water Police and other emergency services scoured the lake and foreshore well into the night.

Due to the conditions the water search was temporarily suspended overnight however police remain at the scene.

Police divers and other emergency services were set to resume the search in full at first light, police said in a statement issued early Monday morning.

The latest incident comes as the state endures a horror holiday season on waterways, with more than 120 water rescues taking place at patrolled locations since Christmas Day and multiple drownings.

Four water deaths have been reported in Victoria since Christmas Eve.

Five-year-old Alison Johns died after being pulled from the water at Lake Nagambie on Tuesday last week, a day after 17-year-old Pakenham boy Nick Mann drowned at Mordialloc beach.

On Christmas Day, a 19-year-old man drowned near Lorne and on Boxing Day, a man in his 30s died after suffering a “medical episode” in the water at Ebden.

Originally published as Tragic end to search for missing swimmer at Lake Eildon