Body of rowing coach recovered from Northern California Lake

Crews have recovered the body of a renowned rowing coach after he fell from a boat into Northern California’s Lake Natoma.

Rescue crews recovered the body of 66-year-old John Hooten Jr. Tuesday, a day after he suddenly fell overboard while navigating a single rowing shell, the Sacramento Bee reports.

Hooten coached at Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia for several years. Eighteen Vesper rowers became Olympians under his watch.

A friend rowing nearby tried to rescue Hooten as he flailed in the water, but was too late.

He had been coaching the Johnson Ranch Barracudas youth swim club in Roseville, California since 2005.

Longtime friend John Jonik tells the newspaper Hooten had been training for a regatta.