Teen missing after swimming in swift water in southern Manitoba

Search crews are trying to locate a 17-year-old who went missing while swimming with friends in southern Manitoba.

RCMP were called around 9:30 p.m Wednesday to a diversion dam in the Rural Municipality of Rhineland, about five kilometres east of Winkler.

The teen was swimming with two other boys — his brother and his best friend — when he went under the water and didn't resurface, said David Penner, one of the searchers who knew the missing boy.

"He's actually a church brother from our church," said Penner. "He's the pastor's son. He's a very fine boy."

The teen's father was out searching in the morning and is prepared for the worst, said Penner.

"He tried to stay calm. He finds it kind of a little bit hard, but he knows that his boy's in heaven. He made it. He's pretty relaxed over that part but all his concern is he wants to find his son, his body at least," said Penner.

Recovery mission

The area where the boys were swimming is very fast-flowing due to the heavy rains over the past few days, according to RCMP.

"Swimming in this area is ill-advised," said Cpl. Dale Sinclair of the Carman RCMP.

Sinclair said the search itself has been a challenge given the conditions in and out of the water.

"Last night, for [the underwater search team] the chief condition would have been darkness," he said. 

"Swimming last night was cold, it was raining. [Those are] not ideal conditions for swimming or for searching."

Making it worse, said Sinclair, is how quickly the water is moving.

"There were ideas … about possibly [slowing down] the flow to drop the level to make it safer on our recovery team to go in the water," he said.

"It's very dangerous and we certainly don't want to risk any rescuers in what is now strictly a recovery effort."

Crews from the Winkler and Morden fire departments have also been searching the waterway.