“I had my camera, and we went to the end of the pier. We were going to jump into the calm side. I wanted to get him in midair. He jumped in the first time, but the photo didn’t take, and he wanted to do it again,” the boy said.

He said this time the girl said she would jump in with the victim. But the second time around, the victim apparently found himself in trouble trying to get back to the pier, the boy said. He said the girl tried to help their friend, but was unable to reach him.

A Kenosha Police Department supervisor and a Kenosha Fire Department lieutenant on scene said the girl was able to get out on her own.

The boy taking the photos said he wasn’t a strong swimmer, but entered the water — staying close to one of the bright yellow, pier-mounted steel ladders — and tried to aid his friend.

“I went in to try to get him, but he drifted away,” the boy said, his long pants still soaking wet.

Expert diver Dan Vaccaro, the divemaster for the county dive team at the scene, surveyed the waves crashing against the north side of the pier. He pointed out three simultaneous but different undertows visible from the surface action.

Vaccaro indicated waves moving in opposing directions.