The man who died while swimming in a Broomfield lap pool was a Colorado National Guardsman who had served in Iraq and was training to join an elite special-forces unit.
Drew Laird, 25, was found in the Lakeshore Athletic Club pool Tuesday morning.
The Westminster resident had received permission from the Guard to go to active duty and wanted to join a special unit such as the Navy SEALs, said his father, Alden Laird.
Drew Laird had contacted the Coast Guard, the Navy and another military branch about testing to join one of their special units, Alden Laird said.
Drew Laird took at least one swimming test for the SEALs on Friday at the pool where he died, his father said.
“They are required to swim the length of the pool underwater, and he has been working out and doing this,” said Laird’s uncle, Mike Laird of Westminster.
But his father said he wasn’t sure whether Laird had been swimming underwater before others at the pool pulled him out.
According to a column by Seth Smith of , a website for military personnel, the Navy SEAL underwater swim is one of the toughest military tests. He warns those who attempt it never to swim alone.
“There have been many people who were great swimmers that have died from shallow water blackout — defined at the Navy Safety Center as decreased oxygen levels leading to unconsciousness,” Smith wrote.
Alden Laird said there were five people nearby when his son was swimming but that none were friends training with him.
“He wasn’t doing this on his own recklessly. This is not a novice; he was in top condition. He was excited about all the physical-fitness tests. He was just a kid that gave it 100 percent, so this is just a mystery.”
Nobody at the athletic club could be reached for comment Thursday.
Alden Laird said his son had no health problems. The Adams County coroner’s office performed an autopsy and is seeking additional toxicology tests, Coroner James Hibbard said.
Drew Laird was a helicopter pilot with the Guard who came home last year after serving in a medical evacuation unit in Iraq for about a year.
Laird and his wife, Natalie, 25, have a 2-year-old son, Caeden. Natalie is expecting a second child in August.
Laird had always been athletic and fiercely committed to the challenges he took on, his father said.
“He was just one of those great kids. This is just such an incredible loss,” Alden Laird said.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
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