Man found dead in pool at gym

A postmortem was due to be carried out last night on the body of a young man found in a swimming pool in Limerick.

The tragedy occurred at around 9.30pm at Planet Health Gym, in the Childers Road Retail Park on Tuesday night. Gardaí sealed off the facility, and management left a notice at the gym saying it was “closed until further notice” as a mark of respect for the deceased, who was named locally as John Lipper from Castletroy.

A senior Garda source said they were “keeping an open mind” into the circumstances surrounding the incident and did not suspect any foul play.

In a statement, the club said: “The management and staff of Planet Health Club would like to express our deepest sympathy to the Lipper family on the death of John who was a well- respected member of our club.”

“Pending the outcome of the investigation we are unable to comment further at this time and our thoughts and prayers are with the family.”

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Mr Lipper, who was in his mid 20s, was found by another member of the club who tried to resuscitate him. He was rushed to University Hospital Limerick by ambulance but was pronounced dead a short time later.

A Garda source said: “The young man was inside the gym using the facilities and he was found in the swimming pool. Someone there tried to resuscitate him and he was pronounced dead in hospital”.

According to his Facebook page, Mr Lipper was a team leader at Fine Wines, and a former student of Castletroy College and Limerick Institute of Technology.

Friends flooded his Facebook page with a plethora of tributes.

Gardaí were last night awaiting the results of the postmortem, which was to be carried out by Dr Michael Curtis, the deputy state pathologist, before deciding the route of the investigation.

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