'Very sad day': Man swimming with family drowns at Casuarina Sands
A 35-year-old man died at Casuarina Sands on Thursday afternoon, after police divers responded to reports of a missing swimmer.
ACT Policing said they would prepare a report for the coroner, although the death was not considered suspicious.
Divers located the deceased man in the river after a search.
A witness told The Canberra Times it was a "very sad day", and the man was swimming with his wife and two children about 5pm when he drowned.
"He began to struggle and was out of his depth. He attempted to keep his children afloat and then disappeared into the water," the witness said.
"Many people attempted to dive and help try and find him, while others helped his wife and children ashore.
"Unfortunately no one was able to locate the man as the water was too deep with no visibility. Members of the public searched for over half an hour until they were told to move out of the area by police."
Police reminded Canberrans to take care when swimming and watch out for each other in and around the water.
According to preliminary figures from Royal Life Saving Australia, 50 people died in rivers, beaches and lakes between December 1 and January 2 across Australia.
More than 40 per cent of the people who drowned died at rivers, lakes and dams, the figures showed.