A 20-year-old Georgia man drowned and another man was pulled from the waters off the Gulf of Mexico by a Clearwater Police officer on Friday.
The incident happened a little after 6 p.m. on the northern part of Clearwater Beach, nearest Idlewild Street.
According to reports, an officer was on routine patrol on the beach when he was flagged down and told that there was a swimmer in the water having trouble. He saw and heard the man yelling for help and ran into the water to him.
Authorities said the officer was able to pull the man, 41-year-old Donald Larry Duncan, to the beach.
Duncan then told the officer there was a second person who was having difficulty in the rough waters.
Clearwater Fire & Rescue and the Coast Guard were called, and the body of the other man, Ryan Terry, was found shortly thereafter.
Duncan was taken to Morton Plant Hospital for treatment.
A cardiologist from Montreal in the area of the beach assisted in treating Duncan. Another man from Michigan was able to help fire department rescuers find the body of Terry.
Duncan and Terry worked together in Georgia. The two were in Florida on vacation with others and had been staying at a hotel in the Orlando area.
Swimmers are encouraged to swim only in areas where the beach is staffed with lifeguards. Lifeguards can help keep an eye on swimmers and also can apprise them of potentially dangerous water conditions.