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Former Kelowna football player drowns in Shuswap Lake

Nathan Falito is the second Okanagan Sun alumni player to drown this month
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Nathan Falito was 22-years-old from Edmonton, Alberta. (Contributed)

Former Okanagan Sun Football Club player Nathan Falito has tragically passed away.

The 22-year-old Edmonton native drowned at Canoe Beach on Shuswap Lake in the afternoon of Thursday, July 23, according to posts made on social media.

Shuswap Search and Rescue search manager John Schut said search and rescue received the call at around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 23.

Both Shuswap Search and Rescue and the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue station in Sicamous had boats on the water until approximately 9 p.m. that night.

According to Schut, Falito had been swimming out to one of the floating docks off the beach on Shuswap Lake when he slipped beneath the water and did not resurface. Schut said it is important for people to be aware of their swimming ability and, if in doubt, wear a lifejacket.

https://www.facebook.com/GBF28/posts/10156994875841862

Falito played for the Westshore Rebels of the B.C. Junior Football Conference in both 2018 and 2019 after previously playing for the Okanagan Sun.

The tragic death of Falito comes after Kory Nagata, 24, a former member of the Okanagan Sun football team, was found dead on Monday, July 6, after being reported missing the previous day.

The Richmond-native apparently jumped into the waters of the Fraser River to retrieve a football after a boat docked at the pier.

Witnesses told police the man managed to retrieve the football but wasn’t able to get back to the dock. Two men jumped into the water to try and help but were unable to rescue him before needing to swim back to land.

Nagata’s body was recovered shortly after noon on Monday at low tide, not far from where he had disappeared.

Capital News has reached out to the Okanagan Sun Football Club for more information on the death of Nathan Falito.

READ MORE: Former Kelowna football player drowns in Fraser River

READ MORE: Future still uncertain for B.C. high school sports this fall


Daniel Taylor
Reporter, Kelowna Capital News
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