Canadian Sprinter, a Weaver High Grad, Drowns During Training Camp

Canada's athletic federation is mourning the death of a runner on the Canadian track team, who went to high school in Connecticut, after he drowned in the ocean during training camp.

Daundre Barnaby, 24, of Brampton, Ontario, went swimming with teammates in the ocean during East Hub training camp at the West Indies island of St. Kitts when he disappeared at about 11 a.m. on Friday, according to Athletics Canada. The graduate of Weaver High School in Hartford was swept out to sea by a strong current and his teammates tried to rescue him, but were unable to, according to the federation's website. Crews searching for him found his body at about 3:30 p.m.

“This is such a sad and profound loss, Daundre was an outstanding athlete and an even better young man,” Rob Guy, chief executive officer of Athletics Canada, the Canadian governing body for track and field, said in a statement on the federation's website. “On behalf of Athletics Canada I offer my sincere sympathies and condolences to Daundre’s family and teammates. Athletics Canada will do whatever is necessary to support the athletics family through this tragedy.”

Before becoming a member of the Canadian national track team, Daundre Barnaby was a standout track star at Weaver High School in Hartford. Barnaby ran the 400-meter dash for Canada in the 2012 Olympics in London.

The federation is making a grief counselor available to Barnaby's teammates, coaches and staff at St. Kitts.

Peter Eriksson, the head coach of his team, was heading to Ottawa from Porland, Oregon when the incident happened and will instead travel to St. Kitts to be with his team after hearing the news, according to Athletics Canada. He also recently competed in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Barnaby was born in St. Ann Jamaica on Dec. 9 in 1990 and became a Canadian citizen in time the year of the 2012 Olympics, according to Athletics Canada. He has also run for the Bramtpon Track Club, Project Athletics and the Flying Angels, according to the federation.

He ran at the NCAA level in college for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, according to the federation.

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