While the drowning death last Tuesday of a man in High Rock Lake was only the first reported this summer in Davidson County, it was at least the second in High Rock. The other one occurred a week earlier in Rowan County.

At first glance, the victims don’t appear to have much in common. Jerry Meldon, who died in Davidson County this week, was 69 years old and was visiting from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, authorities said. Taejone Jamoneyen Williams, the victim in last week’s drowning, was a 19-year-old Rowan County native whose mother told the Salisbury Post he was a good swimmer who had been to High Rock Lake in the past.

There are similarities. In each death, friends told investigators they saw the victim dive in and never resurface. Both men died in water no more than 10 feet deep, authorities said. Another sad similarity: They are both now counted among the terrible statistic of people who accidentally drown in the United States every year.

According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 10 people die every day as a result of accidental drowning in the U.S., making it the nation’s fifth-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death. Of those, about 20 percent are children 14 and younger (an age group for which drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death, the CDC says).

More statistics and analysis from the CDC: Nearly 80 percent of people who die from drowning are male; children ages 1-4 have the highest drowning rates (In 2014, drowning accounted for one-third of unintentional injury deaths in that age group, and most of the drownings happened in home swimming pools.); African Americans experience a higher rate of fatal drownings than whites, mainly due to lack of access to pools and lack opportunity or desire to learn how to swim.

Among the factors that contribute to fatal drownings are inability to swim, the absence of barriers (especially around home swimming pools), the lack of supervision, and the failure to wear lifejackets when boating. One of the biggest factors, though, is alcohol use, which the CDC says is involved in up to 70 percent of water-related deaths for adolescents and adults.

Authorities have not said that either of the recent drownings on High Rock Lake involved the use of alcohol. But as the summer heats up – with temperatures expected to soar toward 100 later this week – more people will seek relief at the lake and in pools, and all the risk factors should be considered. If nothing else, remember this: If it can happen to a 19-year-old man, and it can happen to a 69-year-old man, it can happen to you. So when you’re on or in the water, have fun, but be safe. Don’t be counted among this terrible statistic.

— The Dispatch, Lexington