Halifax police say the body of a 20-year-old man who went missing while swimming in Dartmouth's Penhorn Lake Tuesday evening has been recovered.

The man was located about three metres under water, 10 metres from the shoreline near a public beach just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

"My understanding is he went for a swim," said Halifax Regional Police Sgt. Ross Burt.

"He became in distress and people called 911 because people there were unable to effect a rescue themselves and by that time it was too late."

No signs of trauma

Emergency crews were called to Penhorn Lake at around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Boats were used to search the lake but it became too difficult to see as night fell, so police suspended the search until the morning.

It took police divers about 15 minutes to find the body after they entered the water Wednesday morning.

Police said they will not be releasing the man's name.

An RCMP dive team arrived at Penhorn Lake around 8 a.m. Wednesday. (Paul Palmeter/CBC)

"The best description I could give — he was very peaceful looking. There were no obvious signs of any trauma or anything that we observed," said Ross.

"Divers who have recovered multiple victims in the past, there was nothing of concern to us."

Lifeguards start July 1

There were no lifeguards at the lake on Tuesday, and the city said they won't start their season until July 1.

"We've never had any requests to open early, and I think a lot of the reason for that is that there isn't much demand," said Brendan Elliott, a spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Municipality.

"We have unusually high temperatures right now and people are flocking to the beaches but we don't actually see a lot of people going in the water this time of year."

Elliott said the majority of the city's lifeguards are university or high school students who are unable to begin working until the school year is finished.