Olympic kitefoiler JJ Rice dies in diving accident

JJ Rice, a US-born kitefoiler who was set to represent Tonga at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris, died in a diving accident over the weekend. He was 18 years old.

Rice’s father Darren confirmed his son’s death to the Matangi Tonga newspaper on Monday.

He died on Saturday in Faleloa on the island of Ha’apai in the Tonga archipelago.

He presumably drowned after blacking out while free diving from a boat into shallow water. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, local media reported.

Rice was born in the United States but grew up in Tonga, where his British parents run the Ha’apai hotel. He secured his place in the Olympics last December by competing in Australia.

He had trained and competed in Europe but had recently returned to Tonga.

Kitefoiling will be an Olympic discipline for the first time at the Summer Olympics in Paris. It is a type of kiteboarding in which participants are lifted into the air by kites and reach speeds of around 30 miles per hour in the water.

“I was blessed with the greatest brother in the world and it pains me to say he has passed away,” sister Lily said in a Facebook post. “He was an amazing kitefoiler and would have made it to the Olympics and won a big shiny medal. He made so many great friends all over the world.”