A 23-year-old had a cold trip home from Queenstown on Saturday morning, having gone for a dip in Lake Wakatipu and heading home without his clothes.
Sergeant Steve Watt, of Queenstown, said a patron at Little Blackwood, at the Steamer Wharf, heard screaming coming from the lake about 3am.
The person saw a man swimming near TSS Earnslaw and called police.
Sgt Watt said officers found the swimmer's clothes at the Kawarau Pier but after searching the shallows could not find him, so the Coastguard was called in to search.
Police checked the man's home at Fernhill where they found him, minus his clothing.
• Police are awaiting the results of a blood test after a single-vehicle crash on State Highway 6 at the Arrow Junction-Morven Ferry Rd intersection on Sunday morning.
A vehicle came around a corner with a 75kmh advisory at 4.35am and went "straight across the other side of the road into bushes''.
"He's king-hit the trees and air bags were deployed,'' Sgt Watt said.
"He's believed to have hit his head, so he was taken to Lakes District Hospital for assessment.''
The vehicle was extensively damaged, Sgt Watt said.
