By Steve Plunkett
A man who had just arrived in town from Niagara Falls, Canada, drowned Wednesday after going with a friend for a swim in the Atlantic.
A 911 call alerted Ocean Ridge police shortly after noon, and Sgt. Gary Roy responded to the scene on the beach at Colonial Ridge Club at 5500 Old Ocean Blvd.
The drowning victim was identified as Gerald W. Julian, 50.
Boynton Beach Fire Rescue paramedics took Julian to Bethesda Hospital East, where he was pronounced dead. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiners Office listed the cause of death as an accidental drowning.
McClure, who spent 10 years on the town of Palm Beach's police marine unit, called it tragic.
"If you lived here your whole life, you know (what to do). You don't fight it, you swim parallel (to the rip current) till you get out of it," McClure said.
Four days earlier, a Lake Worth Beach man drowned after being pulled from the water near the Boynton Inlet about 1/4 mile north of the non-lifeguard-protected area.
"Security officers and medics from a nearby estate rescued the male from rough surf and rip currents, administering CPR until Palm Beach County Fire Rescue arrived," according to the county sheriff's office.
That victim was identified as Maximilian Sdowski, 34.
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