Rivers just as dangerous in low water year

August 4, 2012, 8:03 PM
Gymnastics teacher drowns in Yosemite

by Sue Dremann
Palo Alto Weekly Staff

A popular children's gymnastics teacher drowned in Yosemite National Park on Wednesday, Aug.1, his family has confirmed.

Russell Wright, 57, has taught Palo Alto children for a decade at Gym Fit for Little Ones at the Lucie Stern Community Center.

He was swimming at a Merced River swimming hole with his daughter when he was carried by currents. His foot became caught between two boulders and he drowned, his sister said. A Yosemite spokesman was not available for comment on Saturday.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=26353

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Rafting company: Sausalito woman's drowning not caused by low water
By Janis Mara, Marin Independent Journalmercurynews.com

August 3, 2012 3:57 PM

The owner of the whitewater rafting company involved in the Tuesday drowning of a Sausalito resident said the tragedy didn t occur because of low water, and the cause is still unknown.

Mariati Tani, 41, of Sausalito, drowned Tuesday when the raft she was in got stuck on a rock in the Tuolumne River, but "the water level at the time was the normal water level," said Bob Ferguson, owner of Columbia-based Zephyr Whitewater Expeditions. Tuolumne County sheriff s Sgt. Jeff Wilson had earlier reported that the raft became stuck because the water level was lower, exposing rocks and causing water to funnel between the rocks.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_21227871/rafting-company-sausalito-womans-drowning-not-caused-by?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com