A former Team USA triathlete drowned while going for a swim near his upscale Shelter Island hotel during his family vacation at the Long Island hotspot.
Spencer Korwin, a 38-year-old married Manhattan father of two, was found dead underneath the dock of The Pridwin Hotel just after 3 p.m. Wednesday, the Suffolk Times reported.
Korwin was a guest at the luxury hotel where he was staying with his wife and children when he trekked across the street and into the Shelter Island Sound just before 8 a.m.
Korwin, who is also a wellness entrepreneur, was reported missing when he didn’t return from the water, according to the outlet.
An “extensive multi-agency effort” involving several area police departments and the Coast Guard was launched looking for Korwin, the Southold Town Police Department said.
A Southold dive team had found Korwin’s body underwater near the hotel dock he had launched from, according to the Shelter Island Reporter.
“Spencer was a beloved husband, father, son, brother, and friend,” read a GoFundMe page that set up for Korwin’s wife and his young daughters, who are 4 and 1.
“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.”
Officials believe Korwin died from an accidental drowning but are awaiting the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office to announce the official cause and manner of death.
Residents said weather conditions were good and there was nothing “unusual” about the morning when Korwin went missing.
“There wasn’t anything unusual,” Southold Town Police Department’s Marine One master John Kirincic told the Shelter Island Reporter. “There was no fog or anything bad.”
Korwin, who graduated from Syracuse University in 2010, represented the United States in the 2012 triathlon World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand.
He became a sponsored Gatorade athlete for five years and operated his own outdoor summer camp for children in Southampton during the summer of 2020, according to his LinkedIn page.
In 2021, Korwin founded Korwin Health & Wellness, a personalized fitness and holistic health company specialized in developing macro health plans that fit within clients’ lifestyles.
Wednesday’s tragic drowning led Shelter Island locals to warn of the dangerous water conditions ahead of the Labor Day Weekend.
“People are not familiar with the waters around here,” resident Laurie Eckardt told the Shelter Island reporter.
“These are open waters where tides, currents and boat traffic are always considerations,” Shelter Island Police Chief Jim Read said, noting that the area near the Pridwin is not usually considered to be hazardous.
A funeral for Korwin is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Temple Israel in Manhattan.
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