VENICE : Swimmer Who Drowned Identified as French Tourist

Officials have identified a 48-year-old French tourist who drowned off Venice Beach last week in what was believed to be the second drowning in the area in less than a month.

Bernardo Hyacinth Jorcin of Lanslebourg, France, drowned on April 28, although a related cause of death was probably a cardiovascular problem, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman Scott Carrier.

On April 8, a Burbank man was believed to have drowned after being caught in a riptide off Venice Beach. His body has not been recovered.

Jorcin was part of a tour group visiting Southern California and staying near Venice Beach. He and a friend walked to the beach near Brooks Avenue at about 7 a.m., and Jorcin went for a swim, said county lifeguard Lt. Dave Story.

The unidentified friend said Jorcin had been swimming for only five to 10 minutes, about 10 to 15 yards from shore, Story said.

“Suddenly (Jorcin) started to float,” Story said. “There was no struggling in a riptide or cries for help.”

The water was probably shallow enough that Jorcin could have stood up, he added.

“We have been assuming (he had) a medical problem,” while in the water, Story said.

As Jorcin’s friend ran for help, two beach-goers pulled Jorcin out of the water and began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics at 7:30 a.m., Story said.

In the April 8 incident, Burbank resident Lance Dawkins, 36, apparently drowned while out on a boogie board, about 200 yards south of the site where Jorcin was swimming.