21-year-old college athlete drowns while swimming in lake with group, Iowa cops say
The body of a college track athlete was discovered in an Iowa lake a day after he went under water and failed to resurface, Iowa cops say.
Urias Gbarjolo, 21, was swimming with a group in Lake Red Rock around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 27, when he went under water, according to a Marion County Sheriff’s Office news release obtained by KNIA.
Crews searched for his body until suspending the search at midnight, the sheriff’s office said. After the search resumed Sunday morning, his body was found around 10:20 a.m. by a side scan sonar.
“My heart goes out to the family of this young man,” Sheriff Jason Sandholdt said in the news release. “It is always sad when an individual with such a promising future is taken from us at such a young age. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.”
Gbarjolo was a member of the University of Dubuque track and field team. During the 2023 season, he competed in hurdle events, the long jump and relays.
He was entering his senior year at the Iowa university, where he was majoring in digital art & design.
A teammate said he was “frozen” when he learned Gbarjolo drowned, according to KCCI.
“Urias is gone,” another teammate told Johannan Frost, KCCI reported. “And I was like, ‘What do you mean he’s gone?’”
Before attending Dubuque, Gbarjolo was a member of the football and track teams at Valley High School in West Des Moines, according to the Des Moines Register.
“We certainly enjoyed him being a part of our football team,” his high school football coach, Gary Swenson, told the Des Moines Register “Our hearts go out to his family. We want to just say how deeply saddened we are.”
Lake Red Rock is about 40 miles southeast of Des Moines.
