USC Student Drowns in Lake Hartwell Saturday

A South Carolina man is dead as the result of a swimming accident on the South Carolina side of the lake.

It happened Saturday evening about 7:30 at the YMCA beach, according to the Oconee County, SC authorities.

Oconee County Fire Chief Charlie King tells WLHR News callers reported a man had jumped off the end of a dock into approximately six feet of water and did not resurface.

Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis said the victim, identified as 21-year old Odell Gaither, had been under the water for about ten minutes when firefighters and paramedics from Oconee County and Clemson University arrived on scene.

Gaither was pulled from the water and rescuers began lifesaving treatment as he was transported to Oconee Memorial Hospital.

Gather was later taken by ambulance to Greenville Memorial Hospital, but he died early Sunday morning.

King said Gaither, who was a student at USC-Upstate, had been spending the afternoon on the dock swimming with a large number of friends and reportedly knew how to swim.