BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – POLICE are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a Canadian athlete who died while swimming in the Atlantic Ocean in the Frigate Bay area yesterday morning (Mar. 27).
Reportedly, after returning from a training schedule at about 11:15 a.m., the athlete, 24-year-old Daundre Antonio Barnaby, went swimming with two female companions in the Ocean.
Shortly thereafter, he encountered difficulty and called out for help but efforts to assist him were futile.
According to a communiqué, an extensive search and rescue mission was launched by the Police, Coast Guard and local diver Kenneth Samuel for the athlete. However, after three hours and 33 minutes the body of Barnaby was discovered and retrieved from the Ocean.
The District Medical Officer, Dr. Mervin Laws, was summoned to the scene and pronounced Barnaby dead at about 3:30 p.m.
The communiqué stated that an autopsy would be performed on his remains on Monday (Mar. 30).
Barnaby, a Jamaican by birth, was a Canadian citizen residing in Brampton, Ontario and had arrived in St. Kitts on Monday (Mar. 23) with 20 other athletes and eight officials from the Athletics Canada National Track and Field team for their annual training at the Silver Jubilee Stadium in Bird Rock.
According to CBCNEWS, Barnaby had represented Canada at the 2012 London Olympics in the 400-metre event, competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and would have been a potential competitor at the upcoming Toronto Pan Am Games.
“This is such a sad and profound loss,” CBCNEWS quoted Athletics Canada CEO Rob Guy as saying in a news release. “Daundre was an outstanding athlete and an even better young man.”
The Toronto-based media house stated that Barnaby had also competed for the Brampton Track Club and several other teams, as well as in the US National Collegiate Athletic Association for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Assistant Commissioner Ian Queeley, on behalf of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, extended sincere condolences to Barnaby’s family members, the Government and people of Canada, his teammates, friends and his fans.
He took the opportunity to thank all those who were instrumental in the search and rescue mission, and gave special thanks to the Coast Guard and diver Kenneth Samuel for their invaluable assistance.
