Gilberto Mendez Jr., 42, of Roselle Park, was swimming off Fifth Avenue just after 6 p.m. when he began struggling in rip currents, Belmar Borough police said.
Mendez and two other people were pulled from the water by lifeguards and brought to an area hospital. The two other people were treated and released, police said. Lifeguards rescued five other swimmers in distress off Sixth Avenue, they said
Three other men drowned while swimming in the ocean off the Jersey Shore over the Labor Day weekend: a 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic, a 31-year-old Howell resident and a 43-year-old Vineland resident.
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