Family, friends and the field hockey community are in shock and mourning after the drowning death of 21-year-old Graeme Carswell over the weekend.
The Tsawwassen resident and South Delta Secondary grad was fishing with a friend on the banks of the Chilliwack River last Sunday when he fell in and got caught up in the current.
“His companion was not able to rescue him and called for help,” the B.C. Coroners Service said in a news release.
Chilliwack RCMP and a search and rescue team responded and pulled Carswell from the river several kilometres downstream. He was taken to Chilliwack General Hospital but could not be resuscitated.
Carswell is being remembered for his enthusiasm and cheerful disposition as well as his prowess on the field hockey pitch.
He had recently returned from playing club hockey for MHC Amstelveen in the Netherlands and had formerly played for the Canadian Under-21 junior national team and the University of Victoria Vikes. He also played for teams in West Vancouver and locally with the Tsawwassen Falcons.
“Over the last month I have enjoyed watching Graeme come to our club and start loving hockey again,” Rob Short, a former national team player and captain of the West Vancouver Premier men’s team, said in a statement on the Field Hockey Canada website.
“He was playing the best hockey of his life,” he said. “Tonight I felt the true feeling of how important my club is to me.”
Short and Carswell played together on the Tsawwassen team for two years after Short returned from playing in Holland for 14 years. Then, just two months ago, Short got a message that Carswell was back from his own stint in the Netherlands and was interested in playing with Short’s current team in West Vancouver.
Carswell joined the team and Short recalled his last conversation with him. It was on Saturday, the day before the accident. He said he was sitting next to Carswell in the locker room as the team celebrated a big win. Short said the two were talking about Carswell’s excitement about playing for the team.
“He was just on top of the world,” Short told the Optimist. “I know he was in a happy place.”
Short said that although Carswell hadn’t been with his new team long, his death has hit his fellow players hard.
“We’re going to play our hearts out for Graeme.”
In addition to playing for MHC Amstelveen, Carswell extended his involvement in the club as a trainer and coach for several of the junior teams during his time there. He tried out for, and made, the team in 2014.
“We have gotten to know Graeme as a friendly and always cheerful man [whose] enthusiasm affected all those around him,” reads a statement posted on the club’s Facebook page. “He did his best to not only learn Dutch, which he did quickly, but also our local culture… He quickly became an integral and beloved member of our club and will always be remembered fondly.”
In addition to field hockey, Carswell also played several sports during his days at SDSS. He played basketball up until Grade 10 and played rugby and soccer until Grade 12.
“I was fortunate enough to have coached Graeme in basketball and soccer,” said Brent Sweeney, a teacher and athletics director at the school. “He was an awesome kid and this news is definitely being felt by many of the staff here at the school.”
According to the Falcons website, the club is planning on doing something to honour Carswell over the next few weeks.
“Graeme was an outstanding young man in the community with an amazing outlook on life,” the executive committee said in a statement posted on the club’s website. “He was a great friend to many, a coach, mentor, son and brother. His legacy in the community will be acknowledged for years to come and the Falcons would like to thank him for everything he did in the club.”
