Mystery as US swimming champion was found 'dead on arrival' in Virgin Islands

27 February 2023 , 17:41

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Jaime Cail spent her younger years competing in swimming competitions across the country (Image: Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Mystery surrounds the death of a former US swimming champion in the Virgin Islands after she was admitted "dead on arrival" at hospital.

Jamie Cail, 42, was found by her boyfriend, whose identity has not been revealed, at their home in St John, Virgin Islands on February 21 just after midnight.

Her partner was at a bar that evening and headed back to check on Jamie when he entered the home and found her unconscious on the floor.

Virgin Islands Police Department said in a statement: "Upon arrival, he discovered his girlfriend on the floor.

"With assistance from a friend, the male was able to get the female to a nearby vehicle and transported the female to the Myrah Keating-Smith Clinic.

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“Once at the clinic, CPR was rendered and 911 was notified, however, the female succumbed to her ailment."

The ex-swimming prodigy was discovered dead on the floor of her apartment (Getty Images)

However, police were notified of a “dead on arrival” case at the hospital at around 2:39 a.m after she mysteriously died.

The hospital contacted cops to inform them Jamie had arrived to the hospital dead after she "succumbed to her ailment."

The Criminal Investigation Bureau is investigating Jamie's death.

Friends and colleagues have paid tribute to the former swimmer including Jooyoung Lee, a sociologist at the University of Toronto, who revealed in a Twitter post that he was teammates with her in high school.

He wrote: “She left everything in each practice and became a world class distance swimmer through grit. Rest in peace to a real one."

Jamie Cail was found unresponsive at the home she shared with her boyfriend (WMUR)

Jamie, who was born in Claremont, New Hampshire, was a prolific swimming star who won a gold medal for a relay race in the US Pan Pacific Championships.

She also won a silver medal in the 1998-1999 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Brazil.

The talented swimmer then moved to Huntington Beach, California, where she trained with the Golden West Swim Club and had an incredibly successful period.

In addition, she was a member of the University of Maine's women's swim team in the 2000-2001 academic year, according to the school's alumni association.

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The swimmer was found unresponsive by her boyfriend in the home they share together (WMUR)

Jessica DeVries, Jamie's cousin, wrote in a Facebook tribute post that she is still struggling to process the tragic news.

She said: “It is really inconceivable…I haven’t been able to wrap my mind around the reality of it yet.”

The swimmer, who worked in a local coffee shop on the island, was a well loved member of the local community, according to friends.

“Everyone from the you know, older generational, local families to the younger people, everybody loved her,” a friend told WMUR.

Liam Buckler