Rip tides, few lifeguards: Why drownings in the Great Lakes will likely remain high

DETROIT — Brandi Donley believes a lifeguard would have made all the difference for her 20-year-old son, Brandon Schmidt. Schmidt drowned nearly four years ago in Lake Michigan at Windsnest Park south of Grand Haven. There were almost no safety features, Donley recalls: no signs advising against swimming, no flotation devices to help someone struggling and no lifeguards to be seen. “A couple deputies and the sheriff responded, but no one was capable of getting in that water until the fire department got there because nobody was water-safety trained,” she said. Schmidt was one of at least 117 r...