Body of Irish Gaelic footballer missing nearly a year found near B.C. lake

The body of a 26-year-old Irish man who jumped off a bridge into a creek north of Revelstoke, B.C., and never resurfaced has been recovered, according to Irish news reports and his former Gaelic football club.

David Gavin of Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland, had been in Canada for just a few months before he dived from a bridge and disappeared near a reservoir on the Columbia River, on June 30, 2017.

He was on his way from Calgary to Vancouver for a Gaelic football championship when he and three other members of the team stopped at Kinbasket Lake Resort — 166 kilometres north of Revelstoke — and decided to take a swim.

Gavin jumped from the bridge over Beaver Creek but failed to resurface.

At the time, his Vancouver men's Gaelic football team members said they were "heartbroken" by the loss of the small-town Irish athlete, who was popular with teammates.

On Saturday night, the body of the young man was reported found by a Canadian search team.

The RCMP search had been called off last July, and his family had travelled from Ireland in the hope of finding their beloved son.

On Twitter, Gavin's Gaelic football club, Breaffy GAA, posted about the discovery of his body.

"It is [with] great relief and a lot of sadness that David Gavin's remains have been recovered," the post said.

Reduced water levels in the lake allowed divers to resume the search.

Gavin had been working as a business analyst for Telus after moving to Canada with his long-time girlfriend.

"He was a superb player for us, but he was just a really nice guy as a person. He was very warm, he was very friendly — extremely popular," former teammate Tadhg Egan told CBC after he had disappeared.

On Sunday, Egan wrote to CBC, adding: "It was just an unfortunate accident, a bad decision ultimately. He was a very strong swimmer, a qualified lifeguard. But jumping into unknown waters is something everyone needs to be wary of."