(Reuters) – Australian jockey Chris Caserta was presumed dead after disappearing while swimming at the Surfers Paradise beach in Queensland, local media reported.
Caserta, 26, had been swimming with a 25-year-old woman at around 10:22 p.m. local time (1222 GMT) on Wednesday when they were caught in a rip tide.
Onlookers rushed to their aid but were only able to help the woman, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Search efforts continued late into the night, and recommenced at first light on Thursday.
Queensland water police officer Senior Sergeant Jay Notaro said that after several hours of searching, the rescue operation was now a search for Caserta’s body.
“Unfortunately I had the heartbreaking job of telling Chris’s parents that this is not a search and rescue for Chris,” Notaro said https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W49AAidhxdI&t=2s in a video posted by Australia’s 7News.
“We’re searching for Chris’s body as the timeframe for survival has passed.”
Caserta had over 150 career wins to his name.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
