The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Emily Schwalen, 41, of Davis, California, held onto the side of the spillway for 20 minutes before being swept inside.
However in previous overspills one swimmer was in fact sucked into Glory Hole, disappearing into its watery depths in 1997. It’s also illegal for recreators to approach Glory Hole, since laws prohibit boaters from traveling near dams, such as the one next to spillway. A buoy line also floats around it and Bureau of Reclamation rangers check it regularly. The bell-mouth spillway can swallow up lake water at a rate of 48,000 cubic ft per second, but there’s not much suction to pull boats toward it. While the lake is a popular boating area, it’s not likely anyone would accidentally slip into Glory Hole.
