HUNTSVILLE MAN CHARGED WITH CARELESS OPERATION OF VESSEL AFTER EARLY MORNING SWIMMER DIED LAST SUMMER ON LAKE ROSSEAU

MUSKOKA LAKES — A careless operation of a vessel charge has been laid against a Huntsville man after another man out for an early morning swim last summer died after being struck on Lake Rosseau.

Police said today that after a “thorough investigation into the collision” they have now charged 26-year-old Zavier Foyston with Operating a Vessel in a Careless Manner, an offence under the Canada Shipping Act (2001- SVR 1007).

On Monday July 25, at 6:45 a.m. emergency services responded to a 911 call, near Shamrock Lodge Road in Port Carling, after receiving reports of a swimmer who was unresponsive in the water approximately 70 feet from a dock.

The 48-year-old man was swimming, equipped with a “visibility marker,” and was stuck by a water vessel.

Despite life-saving efforts, the man succumbed to his injuries.

Foyston is to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Bracebridge on Feb. 7, 2023.

The 48-year-old swimmer was on Lake Rosseau, west of Port Carling, at 6:45 a.m. and towing a marker device so he could be seen, say police, when he was struck.