Grief counselors at YMCA camp after teen counselor drowns

LAKE WYLIE — A long-time summer camp is in shock after a 19-year-old counselor drowned Monday after jumping off the Buster Boyd Bridge into Lake Wylie to go swimming.

Counselors at YMCA Camp Thunderbird said Jeremiah Tate and another counselor were in their cabins during a lights-out, camp-wide bed check around 1 a.m. Monday. Sometime after that, they left camp, walked over to the bridge on Highway 49 and jumped off. Deputies were called to the scene around 2 a.m.

IMAGES: Crews search Lake Wylie after drowning

"Right now, it's just heartache," said assistant camp director Chris Goodrum."Jeremiah was such a great kid."

Tate played basketball for Wofford College where he was a scholar-athlete. He had been student body president where he went to high school in Richland County.

The other 19-year-old counselor with him told York County sheriff's deputies that the two were swimming when Tate began having trouble and was sinking every time he tried to help him.

He swam to shore and used Randy Ashford's phone to call 911. Ashford was there fishing and told Channel 9 he saw the two teens jump in.

"They ran down the side walk and sat up on the edge of the bridge, and they both jumped," he said. "You could hear the splash. One made it, one didn't."

The other teen told Ashford that he didn't know Tate could not swim.

Officials at Camp Thunderbird couldn't comment on whether or not he could swim. However, Tate was coaching basketball and flag football and was not doing any water activities with the campers this summer. It was his first summer as a counselor.

"He really was a part of our family," Goodrum said. "If we knew what was going on, maybe we could have stopped something from happening, but unfortunately we didn't know."

The parents of all campers, ages six to 16, were sent an email Monday, informing them of the drowning and assuring them that no campers were involved, and their children are safe.

The campers were being told in small groups throughout the day, as counselors tried to keep the focus on having a fun summer.

"Right now, we just want to make sure we have resources for our counselors and our campers," Goodrum said.

Lake Wylie Marine commissioners met Monday to talk about ways to keep people safe on the water.

They're pushing to have four no-wake buoys added to the lake.

YMCA says the two counselors who jumped from the Buster Boyd bridge broke curfew rules. They were in bed during a 1AM bed check. Then left
— Greg Suskin (@GSuskinWSOC9) June 22, 2015