Coroner says drowning was likely an accident

A Bloomington resident drowned while swimming Wednesday afternoon at Riddle Point on Lake Lemon. Brian Porento, 24, was pronounced dead at 3:24 p.m. at Bloomington Hospital.\nRiddle Point is an unguarded swimming area marked off by buoys. Police said Porento was swimming there with two friends, a 19-year-old female and her 15-year-old brother. His friends swam outside the boundary to do backstroke races, but Porento told them he didn't want to join them there and remained inside the buoyed area. \nMonroe County Deputy Sheriff Jerry Reed said around 2:20 p.m., teenagers on shore saw a swimmer begin to flounder in the water and then disappear and alerted their parents. Onlookers began a search in the swimming area, found him underwater and pulled him onto the beach. They attempted CPR while waiting for the paramedics, but were unsuccessful in reviving him.\n"It seems like (Porento) never showed a pulse after he was pulled out of the water," Reed said.\nMonroe County Deputy Coroner Eric Schopmeyer said the preliminary assessment is the drowning was accidental. It is unclear whether Porento may have had any medical conditions that contributed to his death. Toxicology reports will not be back for 2-6 weeks, but Schopmeyer said there is no reason to suspect drugs or alcohol played any role in the drowning.\nPorento was a resident of Bloomington for one year. He was employed at the Village Deli and the Herald Times. He was a former student at Ball State University and had tentative plans to attend IU in the near future. \nMoody Stufflebeam, one of Porento's roommates, said Porento was an active bowler and a drummer in several local bands. He had planned to play in a local benefit concert, Battle of the Joke Bands, with a band called "The Slacks."\nLake Lemon is a reservoir built in the late 1950s, located approximately 10 minutes from the IU campus. The Lake Lemon Conservancy District was formed in 1995 to oversee control of the lake from Bloomington Parks and Recreation. \nRiddle Point is the only swimming area at Lake Lemon, which is also used for boating, fishing and picnicking.\nBob Madden has worked for Lake Lemon since shortly after its creation.\n"This is certainly the first drowning since my tenure here," Madden said.