CLEARWATER, Florida — A 19-year-old man died Thursday afternoon in an apparent diving accident in the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said. The man, identified as Tyler B. Pillion of Madeira Beach, failed to surface in a free dive about 8 miles out. He was diving with friends off a 42-foot recreational vessel, a Coast Guard spokesman said. Pillion was on a boat with four friends, Clearwater police spokeswoman Elizabeth Watts said. The group was spear fishing. Some were using scuba tanks, and others, including Pillion, were free diving. Authorities were contacted by someone on the boat about 12:30 p.m. after Pillion went into distress beneath the surface. The teen was unresponsive when another diver retrieved him, Watts said. Authorities rushed Pillion to the Coast Guard station at Sand Key, then to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Pillion's family could not be reached Thursday evening, but officials at St. Petersburg Catholic High School, where he graduated last year, praised the young man. "He was a kid who put his heart into everything he did, and he worked hard," said John McMahon, the school's dean of students. "He was just a good, solid kid." Clearwater police are investigating the death, which they classified as accidental. Free diving means Pillion was not using air tanks. "As they explained it to us, he didn't come back up from a dive and they had to pull him up from the bottom," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Simpson. "I know he was unresponsive when they brought him onto the vessel. They were doing CPR." At St. Petersburg Catholic, Pillion was well liked and a good student, McMahon said. It was hard to be around him and not smile, he said. Head football coach Tod Creneti said Pillion was very athletic and great at defense. Pillion played outside linebacker and running back for the team. In his free time, he liked to be on the water, he said. Creneti learned of his former player's death during a practice Thursday afternoon. "It's a sad day for us," he said. "There are a lot of people that will miss him." | 
