Former Team USA triathlete dies in apparent drowning on family vacation
SHELTER ISLAND, N.Y. —
A former Team USA triathlete was found dead following a swim on a family vacation.
Spencer Korwin, 38, a father of two, was found dead Sept. 2 after he went missing off New York’s Shelter Island after going out for a swim.
His body was found under a dock at the Pridwin Hotel on Long Island following an hours-long search, according to local authorities.
Officials believe he died from an accidental drowning, although an official cause of death from the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office is pending.
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Korwin represented the United States at the 2012 Triathlon World Championships in Auckland, New Zealand.
An avid swimmer, Korwin’s death highlights the dangers of swimming in unknown waters and underestimating the tides and currents around Shelter Island.
“People are not familiar with the waters around here,” Laurie Eckardt, a lifelong Shelter Island resident, told the Shelter Island Reporter.
It’s the second apparent drowning in the area this summer after 18-year-old Timothy Magambo drowned while swimming with friends just months earlier.
Korwin is survived by his wife and two young daughters, ages 1 and 4.
“Spencer was a beloved husband, father, son, brother, and friend. He was the sun around which so many of our lives orbited, and his loss is being felt deeply by everyone who knew and loved him,” a GoFundMe page for Korwin reads in part, as family members set up a fund for his children’s future education.