As they were swimming toward the distant shore, Luckesen said, the Brooks brothers stayed together but became separated from Gardner.

"For a while, they didn't know where Gardner was, and when they got to the shore, they thought maybe he had drowned," Luckesen said. "Then he came to shore about 100 yards away from them. Rulon was doing the backstroke and taking his time."

Luckesen said much of Lake Powell in that area is bordered by sheer cliffs and the men were fortunate to find a location where they could easily climb out of the water.

Lake Powell is 175 miles long with 1,700 miles of shoreline, much of which is inaccessible by land. Luckesen estimated the men came to shore about 30 miles — across rugged terrain — from the nearest road.

But the men were fortunate again Sunday morning when they were able to flag down a couple of fishermen on a boat.

"They ran down the shoreline .. yelling and waving," Luckesen said.

The fishermen took the three men to Randy Brooks' houseboat in Bullfrog. Brooks then called the Park Service medics, who treated the men at the houseboat, Luckesen said.

The medics urged the men to let them call a medical helicopter for them, but they declined. Instead, Brooks' son-in-law flew his private plane from Las Vegas and then flew the men to American Fork, Luckesen said. He was unsure whether the men received any additional medical treatment once in Utah County.

Luckesen, who called Gardner a "pretty impressive individual," said he understood Gardner was a friend of Leslie Brooks and was interested in perhaps buying the airplane from Randy Brooks. The men apparently were taking a test ride when the crash occurred.

Gardner is no stranger to accidents. He once impaled himself on a hunting arrow, then walked to the hospital. He also survived an accident on his motorcycle in 2004 in which he T-boned a car, did a front somersault and landed on his feet.

Gardner won a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, beating previously undefeated Russian wrestler Alexander Karelin. He is also a three-time national champion.

Gardner is originally from Afton, Wyo.

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Contributing: Joe Bauman

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E-mail: zman@desnews.com