Water Polo Booster Drowns in Pool

A man taking his usual nighttime swim Monday at San Clemente High School was pulled unconscious from the school’s pool by his teenage son and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Authorities said James Hollywood Sr., a 57-year-old charter boat captain from San Clemente, had been swimming at the pool where his son, James Jr., plays varsity water polo.

Hollywood’s spouse, Phyllis, said she and her son went looking for the father when he hadn’t returned more than an hour past when he said he would. When they discovered him floating in the water, the youth jumped in and tried to revive him while his mother went to summon paramedics.

“It was very difficult for [James Jr.] to find him like that and not be able to help him,” she said. “They were very close.”

Paramedics found the man in “full cardiac arrest. He had no heartbeat, and was not breathing,” said Capt. Paul Hunter, spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. They took him to San Clemente Hospital and Medical Center.

Marc Parker, head coach of the high school’s water polo and swim teams, said Hollywood was a vice president of the boys Water Polo Booster Club, serving on the board almost every year for the past six years, attending virtually every game and transporting team members to matches.

“He [wanted] to make it one of the top programs in the county. He was just a great guy. This is a huge loss,” Parker said.

Phyllis Hollywood said her husband belonged to a swim club that regularly uses the high school pool, and he would swim about a mile there every night.

Normally, he would be accompanied by a friend, “but this friend thought it was too cold Monday night, so [Hollywood] went alone,” said a sheriff’s official who helped investigate the death.

Authorities don’t know why Hollywood lost consciousness and drowned. His death is considered accidental.

Memorial services were scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Faith Lutheran Church, 34381 Calle Portola in Capistrano Beach.