This was published 6 years ago
Man drowns while swimming with family in Gippsland on New Year's Day
The man drowned in waters off Sunset Drive in Paynesville in Gippsland.
A man has drowned while swimming with his family in Gippsland on New Year's Day.
Police said the 45-year-old Bairnsdale man was swimming with his wife and family in waters near Paynesville, east of Melbourne, about 4.30pm on Tuesday.
About 20 minutes later, people began to notice the man was in trouble and he was pulled from the water at 4.50pm.
Attempts to resuscitate the man were unsuccessful and he died at the scene.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
The lakeside town of Paynesville is a popular tourist destination, with several swimming areas around the Gippsland Lakes. It is also a popular boating area.
The death comes days after 34-year-old mother Josephine Williamson drowned while trying to save a seven-year-old boy.
The incident unfolded at Lake Victoria in East Gippsland, just several kilometres from the area where Tuesday afternoon's drowning occurred.
The man who drowned in Paynesville was the sixth person to drown in Victoria since Christmas Eve.
On Christmas Eve, a woman lost her husband and adult son in a drowning accident along the notoriously dangerous strip of beach next to the Colonnades on Phillip Island.
Her 45-year-old husband and 20-year-old son, who recently left the army, were declared dead after being pulled from the water. Her 11-year-old son was able to swim to shore and sustained minor injuries.
On Christmas Day a 64-year-old diver drowned off the rocks at Cape Schanck on the Mornington Peninsula.
On Boxing Day, New Zealand tourist Harmanjot Walia died while swimming at Mackenzie Falls in the Grampians.
Drownings in Victoria since Christmas Eve
- A 20-year-old man and another man in his 40s drowned while swimming at Phillip Island beach in Victoria on December 24, while a young boy managed to swim to shore.
- On December 25, a 64-year-old diver died after getting into difficulty off the coast of Cape Schanck on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.
- Harmanjot Singh Walia, 27, died after slipping into the water at MacKenzie Falls near Stawell in Victoria on December 28. The Indian man, who lives in New Zealand, landed in Australia the day before to visit friends.
- Josephine Williamson, 34, drowned while swimming at Lake Victoria, near Bairnsdale in eastern Victoria, on December 29. She was pulled from the water by family, but couldn't be revived.
- A man swimming with his family in Paynesville drowned on January 1.