West Kelowna RCMP say a 67-year-old drowned in Lake Okanagan during swimming event

VICTORIA — West Kelowna RCMP say a 67-year-old man drowned Saturday, while attempting to swim across Lake Okanagan.

Mounties say in a statement that the senior was participating in the Swim Across the Lake event, when another participant found him unresponsive in the water at around 9:50 A.M., about two hours after the start of the swim.

It says that the other participant and a paddle boarder pulled the man out of the water near Tugboat Beach in Kelowna, B.C., but attempts by BC Ambulance crews to resuscitate him failed.

West Kelowna RCMP, which was contacted about the drowning just before 10:30 a.m., say the family of the man has since been notified, after authorities were able to identify him through the wrist band that he wore as part of the event.