Police divers are searching to recover the body of a young man believed to have drowned in Lake Stockton.

The drowning is believed to have happened when the man “got into trouble” in deep water chasing an inflatable device caught in the wind on Monday afternoon. A number of other swimmers attempted to help him.

A family group was swimming in the water in Stockton when the 22-year-old “came into difficulty while enjoying the water” said Senior Sargeant Heath Soutar from Collie Police. He said a number of people entered the water to try and assist the struggling man.

By that time it was unfortunately too late and he had “gone under the surface”.

Three young women who had been using a jet ski nearby attempted to recover the man from where the man went under the water, but their attempts were unsuccessful.

“They were very brave in doing that too,” Senior Sargeant Soutar said.

Another male and female were also involved in “going under” and trying to retrieve the man.

The family group were swimming with inflatable devices — reportedly pool toys — which were caught by the wind, which police believe the man may have been trying to retrieve.

At Lake Stockton, which is a former open cut mine shallow water can turn into deep drop offs suddenly.

Where the man was swimming the water was waist deep, however where police divers are searching for the drowned man’s body the water is roughly 15 to 16 metres deep.

Police divers are still attempting to recover the man’s body.

Mr Soutar said visibility on the lake’s bottom has been somewhat hampered by disturbance of the silt.