Australian snowboarder Pullin drowns while spear fishing
VIDEO SHOWS: POLICE DIVER BEING TOWED ACROSS WAVES, POLICE WALKING WITH DIVE GEAR AND SPEAR FISHING EQUIPMENT
SHOWS:
GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA (JULY 8, 2020) (NINE NETWORK - Broadcasters: NO USE AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND / PAPUA NEW GUINEA Digital: NO USE AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, PAPUA NEW GUINEA-BASED INTERNET SITES, MOBILE PLATFORMS OR SITES OF MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS BASED IN THOSE COUNTRIES, NVO CLIENTS/ SMH.COM.AU/NEWS.COM.AU
1. VARIOUS OF POLICE DIVER BEING TOWED ACROSS WAVES
2. VARIOUS OF POLICE WALKING UP BEACH WITH DIVE GEAR AND SPEAR FISHING EQUIPMENT
3. AMBULANCE DRIVING ON BEACH
STORY: Australia's double world champion snowboarder Alex Pullin drowned while spear fishing off a Gold Coast beach on Wednesday (July 8), plunging the country's winter sports community into mourning.
Pullin, Australia's flagbearer at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, was found by a snorkeller on an artificial reef just before 11 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) in waters off Palm Beach, state broadcaster ABC reported. Lifeguards and paramedics attempted to resuscitate the 32-year-old on the beach after pulling him from the water. Queensland Ambulance Service officer Justin Payne said he did not survive. Another diver had found Pullin on the sea floor in "very upsetting" circumstances, said Gold Coast Police District Duty Officer Chris Tritton.
Brisbane-based newspaper the Courier-Mail earlier reported that Pullin was thought to have "suffered a shallow water blackout".
Pullin, nicknamed "Chumpy", won world championship titles in snowboard cross in 2011 and 2013, competed at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and placed sixth in his event at the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea two years ago.
The New South Wales Institute of Sport wrote on Twitter: "Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin was an extraordinary individual who pursued his passions in sport and in life. This loss is tragic to everyone he inspired and loved."
