A high school swimmer for the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, the same one represented by Bob Bowman and Michael Phelps up until his recent retirement, passed away this week. Though details are sparse, according to the Baltimore Sun, an emergency call was made from the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center last Sunday morning, where a lifeguard was found administering CPR on deck to 14-year old swimmer Louis Lowenthal.
The next status update came that evening, where at request of his parents the club informed its members that Lowenthal was in a coma.
The Baltimore Sun then confirmed with the hospital on Thursday that Lowenthal had, in fact, passed away.
The Meadowbrook site of North Baltimore's system is the same one that Phelps trained at.
Lowenthal was a promising young breaststroker for the Baltimore-based club; he had already been a 1:05 in the 100 yard breaststroke before beginning his freshman year of high school. By all accounts, though, his talents outside of the pool might have been even more impressive. Last year, as an 8th grader, he wrote a memoir of his life called “Strokes to Span a Lifetime” that won 1st-prize in a County-wide essay contest in the Nonfiction category.
His former Middle School Principal Kelly Erdman even went so far as to call him “brilliant”. Lowenthal was so advanced that even as an 8th-grader, he took a math class at Towson High School because it wasn't offered at the Middle School level. This was a loss not only to the swimming community, but the entire Baltimore community.
Thoughts go out to the NBAC family, as this is the second young athlete they've lost this year. Another high school student Alec Cosgarea passed away in a car accident in July.