Surf life saving officials can't understand how a teenager died during a routine training session on the Gold Coast.
The lifeless body of Jerry Dennis, 17, was dragged out of a canal at Mermaid Waters after a frantic search on Thursday afternoon.
He had fallen off his board 45 minutes beforehand.
Paramedics attempted CPR but the youngster was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
Jerry was taking part in a training session with the Northcliffe Surf Club when he disappeared.
Club president David Shields can't understand how the tragedy unfolded.
"It was completely flat water, a very small canal," he told ABC Radio.
"That's all we can assume and we'll leave that up to the experts to decide exactly what happened.
"All I can say is that Jerry was a very, very good swimmer."
Surf Life Saving Queensland president Ralph Devlin said Jerry was a fit, strong athlete and a future champion.
"One has to suspect there's some medical background but only the police investigation will tell us for sure," he said.
A police spokeswoman said the investigation into the death would continue through the weekend.
Mr Devlin said the association would also be conducting its own probe.
The death is a blow to surf life saving, which has already had to deal with the death of three teenage competitors at the Australian championships since 1996.
