Swimmer drowns off Anna Maria Island

The body of a 20-year-old swimmer was recovered by a Longboat Key Police Department boat unit Monday, Sep. 1 after the man was pulled out to sea while swimming Sunday.

Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that two swimmers were seen struggling in the water about 100 yards offshore of Bean Point on Anna Maria Island at about 7 p.m. Sunday. One of the two swimmers was rescued, but a multi-agency search ensued to find the other missing swimmer.

“Coast Guard and partner agency crews searched by air and sea for covering approximately 172 square miles, about half the size of Dallas. On-scene weather conditions during the search were 10-knot winds and one-foot seas,” a Coast Guard news release states.

A body was recovered Monday, which Manatee County Sheriff’s Office identified as Abhigyan Patel, 20.

Rescue efforts were a joint effort by multiple Coast Guard stations, Palmetto Police Department, North River Fire District, Holmes Beach Police Department, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, West Manatee Fire and Rescue District, Longboat Key Police Department, Longboat key Fire Rescue and Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and included helicopters, boats, jet skis and paddle boards.

LKPD units discovered Patel’s body at about 11:30 a.m. Monday about a half mile from Bean Point, according to a police report. Patel was not breathing and had no pulse when found, the report described.