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Rescuers save two from drowning at Grants Pass park Comment By Shaun Hall of the Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Shaun Hall of the Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Aug. 29, 2016 at 2:30 PM By Shaun Hall of the Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Aug. 29, 2016 at 2:30 PM » Social News A drowning was averted Saturday afternoon at Baker Park, but not until one rescuer had to back off from a frantic swimmer in the Rogue River and call for help. Another man with an inflated tube rushed to assist, and people in a passing raft helped. By the time emergency crews arrived, the scary part was over. A woman and teenage girl were rescued after becoming trapped in a notoriously difficult eddy on the north side of the river near the Grants Pass Water Treatment Plant. "That eddy's pretty nasty," Battalion Chief Tim DeLisle of Grants Pass Fire and Rescue said afterward, as rescue crews packed up, relieved that things were not worse. After 7-year-old Dakota Vincent drowned just a few hundred feet upstream from the water treatment plant two years ago, a life jacket loaner station was installed at the park and the city erected several warning signs in the parking area. But the warnings went unheeded Saturday. "Worst spot on the river," one of the rescuers, Brad Knoblauch of Grants Pass, said afterward. It was Knoblauch who spotted the pair in distress around 4 p.m. and asked a bystander to call 911. Just nine days earlier, he helped rescue a kayaker in the same spot. This time he had more trouble. As he headed out to the struggling swimmers, one of them began to panic. "She started pushing me under," he said. Making his way back to shore, Knoblauch, 56, himself asked for help getting to where he could touch bottom. Bryan Koch Jr. of Merlin hurried over and gave Knoblauch a hand the last few feet to shallow water, then headed out to the distressed swimmers, an inflated tube in hand. The tube proved invaluable. "They were tired," Koch said afterward. "I told them, 'Don't panic. Stay calm.'" Koch told the swimmers to hold onto the tube, and he put an arm around each of them. "I just told them, 'Kick with me,'" he said. Passing rafters noticed their plight and paddled over to help. They held out paddles, pulled the swimmers in toward the raft and held onto them while making their way to shore. The woman swimmer afterward appeared shaken, and declined to talk about her ordeal. She and two girls left in a car. As they left, they walked between two signs maybe 50 feet apart warning about a strong current. A third warning sign was nearby, too. Ryan Steinberg watched the entire incident unfold, and said he wasn't sure at first whether the swimmers were in distress. His companion, Lucinda Bingham, of Berkeley, Calif., called 911. "They were here fast," he said. When asked how close it had been to a drowning, Steinberg said one of the swimmers had been in particular distress. He suggested even more warnings. "More signage might be in order," he said. Koch said he is certified in first-aid and CPR, although he's not a rescue swimmer. He did just fine, anyway. "The key is not to panic," he said. "Hold your breath (if you go under)." Reach reporter Shaun Hall at 541-474-3722 or [email protected]. By Shaun Hall of the Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Shaun Hall of the Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Aug. 29, 2016 at 2:30 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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