Tongan sport is mourning the death on Monday of Jackson James Rice, an 18-year-old athlete who was to become the first Caucasian in history to represent Tonga at the Olympic Games within weeks.
The news was confirmed by the canoeist's father, Darren Rice, to the newspaper Matangi Tonga, who explained that he was freediving from a boat last Saturday in the settlement of Faleloa, on the island of Foa, when he suffered "a suspected fainting spell in shallow water", which he did not survive.
Rescue teams found the young man lifeless hours later, and attempts to revive him proved unsuccessful. The dates of the funeral ceremonies will be made public soon.
Jackson James Rice was born in the United States of America, but moved to Tonga at an early age, where his parents, Britons Darren and Nina Rice, owned a hotel and made a life for themselves.
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