An 18-year-old who drowned in a cove of Lake Pueblo State Park on Friday was identified as Pueblo County High School 2011 graduate Jacob "Jake" Clifton.

Clifton and a friend were swimming in the Three Fingers Cove when he went under water about 2:20 p.m., according to Chief Mark Mears of the Pueblo County Sheriff Office's Emergency Service Bureau.

"He (Clifton) and a friend were swimming across a channel when he started to lag behind," said Mears, who called Clifton's death "tragic."

Clifton's friend, who was not identified, escaped injury and made it to shore, Mears said.

Divers with the sheriff's office found Clifton's body about 6:30 p.m.

The cove is about 15 miles west of the park's main office. Mears said the channel the two were swimming was about 150 feet wide: "It's a pretty good-sized little area," he said.

Monique Mullis, a park spokeswoman, also called Clifton's death tragic and pointed out that swimming in the reservoir is illegal.

"We allow wading, but you can't swim," she said.

Divers struggled to find Clifton's body due to poor visibility in the cove, which was more than 25 feet deep, Mears said.

Rescuers summoned a sonar-equipped boat from Trinidad, but the victim's body was found by divers, Mears said.

In May, Clifton graduated from Pueblo County, where he was a pitcher and first baseman on the baseball team. That same month he signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Northeastern Junior College, according to the school's website.

He also had made the Loaf 'N Jug Connie Mack baseball team earlier this summer.

According to Clifton's Facebook page, his favorite team was the Colorado Rockies and he was a fan of motocross.