UCSC confirms missing person in water rescue as a student

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) - The missing person in Sunday's water rescue was identified as a UC Santa Cruz student.

UCSC confirmed the person missing is an undergrad student, releasing a statement that says in part:

"Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends. We are in touch with the family and are providing support to others who are impacted."

KION contacted Santa Cruz Fire and was told the recovery effort is ongoing at this hour. 

Some locals were still in shock after the two people were seen jumping into the ocean from West Cliff Drive on Sunday.

"We all got kind of spooked on the beach, definitely, so we didn't know what happened," says surfer Tifanny Myers.

Authorities quickly responded to reports of two people seen jumping into the ocean. Owen Lawson had just finished a surf competition.

"I saw the notification go out. Me and one of my friends ran over there the engine wasn't there yet," Lawson said. "There's some people in the cliff. We asked them what was on like we're like, did you see someone go down and not come back up?"

Lawson, a lifeguard with California State Parks and a surfer, says that question is crucial for first responders on the scene. He adds that he asked if they needed help and was immediately sent to search for the remaining person. 

"We did dive lines for about an hour up and down its beach, all the way to the north coast side and then down to the south coast side," Lawson said of the rescue efforts.

Marine Division Fire Captain David Bodine said three teams were sent out to respond. For him risk around the ocean is year-round. 

"It's kind of all year round for us. Now that you know you have sunny, nice days in the middle of the winter, we have swells coming from the north and south all year round, so there's no real peak season for us," says Bodine.

He says last year, the department had 230 rescues typically in guarded waters where watch towers are open. Surfers like Tiffany Barwick said they always try to be careful when entering the ocean. 

"I always take at least a little bit of a mental risk assessment like looking at what do I see the tides doing the currents doing where all the other surfers in the area try to check what the swells look like before I go out so I can have at least an idea is it going to get bigger is it going to you know taper off," Barwick said.

One rescued, one missing after jumping into the ocean near Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz Fire says

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Santa Cruz Fire said one person is missing and another rescued after both swimmers jumped off a cliff near Steamer Lane but struggled to get back to the shore.

Santa Cruz Fire said it happened on May 4 around 4:55 p.m.

Witnesses said one of the swimmers was able to pull themselves out of the water while the other remained possibly submerged.

Santa Cruz Fire and multiple other agencies responded trying to find the swimmer.

Firefighters said after over an hour of an extensive search "it was determined to conclude the search from shore based resources," with Coast Guard units staying on scene to search by boat.

The swimmers weren't identified by Santa Cruz Fire.