The body of a 45-year-old man has been recovered from Lake Audubon in Virginia after he disappeared during an open water swim Sunday.
Kevin Ruby was competing at the United States Masters Swimming 2018 Middle Distance Open Water National Championship race in Reston, Virginia, but did not check in at the end of the 2-mile race. Organizers launched an emergency search, and Ruby’s body was found in the lake on Monday. Per The Washington Post, a medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
Reston Masters Swim Team, the club hosting the event, released the following statement, saying that Ruby had possibly suffered a medical emergency during the race:
Reston Masters Swim Team (RMST) extends our deepest condolences to the family and friends on the tragic loss of Kevin Ruby. According to the Fairfax County Police, Mr. Ruby possibly suffered a medical emergency during the United States Masters Swimming 2018 Middle Distance (2-mile) Open Water National Championship race on Sunday, May 27, 2018. When he did not finish within his expected race time, emergency search efforts began immediately. After extensive efforts, Mr. Ruby was recovered from Lake Audubon on Monday, May 28, 2018.
Reston Masters is honored to have had Mr. Ruby compete at our Jim McDonnell Lake Swims for many years. He was a very talented top finisher. Earlier Sunday morning Mr. Ruby won his age group in the 1-mile race with a time of 23:38.
As part of all our races, Fairfax County on-water EMS staff are an integral part of our operations. We are especially grateful for the timely and extensive additional support from Fairfax County Police and Fairfax County Fire & Rescue.
Please join Reston Masters in keeping Kevin Ruby in our hearts and memories as an accomplished distance swimmer.
Really sad that I am just hearing of Kevin Ruby’s passing today. I was wondering what he was up to and googled his name. I swam with him in Omaha Nebraska on Millard Swim Club back in the 80s. RIP Kevin
What is scary to me is that the lake is not very big, think big pond, and it still took that long to find his body?
I swam in the race this year. There was a police helicopter over the lake and additional fire/rescue boats at the event site within 15-20 minutes of the last swimmer out of the water. It was a super-fast response, and they searched all afternoon Sunday. The paper noted that searchers had to use sonar to find the body, so I assume he sank. Visibility to the lake was very low. Most of the time you couldn’t see your fingertips when pulling through on your stroke. Clearly that complicated the search. To echo comments above, there were a ton of water safety personnel out there on SUPs, kayaks, canoes and zodiacs. As for the death a couple of years ago, that… Read more »
Not surprised, this is the second death in three years at this event. Something is going on that needs further investigation.
https://www.restonnow.com/2015/05/24/swimmer-dies-during-annual-swim-at-lake-audubon/
I’d be cautious about blaming the event, or the organizers. This is my fifth year participating in the event and the team that runs it do an amazing job of keeping the swimmers safe. There are EMS boats on the water, as well as a large contingent of lifeguards. The swimmer who died in 2015 had a massive heart attack. I suspect that the ME will report a similar cause of death for Mr. Ruby. There are some things that even the best laid plans cannot prepare for.
I’ve done the 1 miler at this event a few times in the past. Agreed with Chooch, this is a fantastically well run event.
Talking with someone in the know, the number of deaths at OW races across the country has been on the rise. Whether that’s attributable to more swimmers doing OW, therefore commensurately more deaths, or another factor is something I’d like more info on.
There has been a great number of A-Fib events that can occur to the use of NSAIDs.
My inclination is to look at those drugs – anti-inflammatory drugs. I think this is the reason for the increase in fatalities, in addition to other meds that diminish magnesium etc.
I was in this race this year and in 2017. Just because there was a death in 2015 a this race does not mean that the deaths have anything to do with how the race is conducted. Like others have noted, this race is extremely well run. My impression is that the race organizers take safety very seriously. There were plenty of lifeguards and other safety personnel (including Fairfax County Fire & Rescue on boats) on the water during the race. We started in reasonably sized waves in the water which is a much less stressful way to start an open water race than a mass-start or running into the water. The water temp this year was 78.8 so wetsuits… Read more »
Yikes, second one in three or four years at this race!
This sounds like an absolute nightmare. Peace to all involved.