Madison officials rescue swimmer in Lake Mendota

MADISON, Wis. — Madison officials had to rescue a swimmer in Lake Mendota, just a few days after another young man drowned in the lake.

A woman called 911 at about 5 a.m. Monday to report her boyfriend was struggling to get back to shore.

Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Lori Wirth says the man told his girlfriend he was trying to swim across the lake. Wirth says he was reportedly intoxicated.

Twenty-two-year-old Matthew Roelse, of Madison, drowned in Lake Mendota Friday while swimming with a friend early in the morning.

Wirth tells the Wisconsin State Journal Monday’s rescue by the fire department’s lake rescue team was only about 600 feet away from where the man went into the water last week.