Just a few short weeks into summer break, Katy residents are mourning the loss of Dustin Kruthaupt, a 19-year-old lifeguard who drowned this weekend in an apparent attempt to swim the length of a 25-meter pool underwater.
Kruthaupt's co-workers at the Rosewood Recreation Center pool were attempting CPR when Fort Bend County authorities arrived at the tragic scene on Saturday just after 4 p.m. The victim was rushed to Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead nearly an hour later.
Witnesses tell KHOU Ch. 11 that Kruthaupt had been swimming laps and, at one point, said he would swim the full length of the pool underwater. His fellow lifeguards jumped to his rescue when they saw him float to the surface.
No evidence of foul play has been reported as deputies move forward with an autopsy request.
The owner of Houston Recreation Management — the company that runs the pool — told KPRC Ch. 2 that he and his staff don't believe the victim's death was a result of drowning despite the initial police report. They say there may have been another health issue involved.
Kruthaupt recently graduated from Seven Lakes High School, where he was a member of the varsity football team as well as the theater department's Comedy Sportz improv troupe. He was planning to attend the University of Alabama as an economics major.
According to the Seven Lakes Class of 2013 Facebook page, Kruthaupt will be laid to rest later this week in Tennessee. Plans for a local memorial service are also underway.
Witnesses say Kruthaupt was attempting to swim the entire length of the pool underwater. (File photo)
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Photo by Leonid Furmansky
