Rescue divers pulled out a University of Wisconsin student from Lake Mendota Thursday morning, who was later taken to a hospital where he died.
The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as John “Vietnam” Nguyen, 19, of Chicago.
UW Police, along with the Madison Police Department and Madison Fire Department, responded to a call at 6:49 a.m. for a possible drowning near the UW Limnology Building at 680 N. Park Street, according to a UW Police statement.
Preliminary autopsy reports cite an “accidental drowning” as the cause of death. The victim had been swimming with a group of people, according to UW Police Sgt. Aaron Chapin.
Responders took five minutes to arrive at the scene, MFD spokesperson Eric Dahl said. A boat from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office led divers from the MFD’s Lake Rescue Team, who located the victim within 15 minutes, according to an MFD statement.
According to a UW statement, Nguyen was also a member of the First Wave Spoken Word and Hip Hop Learning Community, a multicultural artistic program for UW students.
His Facebook fan page, called “John Vietnam,” features YouTube videos of himself rapping and has over 1,300 “likes.” One of his videos has been viewed over 1,800 times.
“We’re deeply saddened by this tragic loss, which comes just before the beginning of a new semester,” UW Dean of Students Lori Berquam said in a statement. “We will be reaching out to those in the university community who knew this student to offer all of our help, support and condolences.”
Nguyen is the second person from the UW community to drown in Lake Mendota this summer. Matthew Roelse, 22, passed away on June 22 after swimming with a friend in the early morning, according to a UW statement. He graduated from UW’s School of Business in May.
