An 81-year-old tourist from Williamsburg, Virginia, named in the United States press as Tom Power, died yesterday while swimming at the West End.

According to the Bermuda Police Service, Mr Power got into difficulty while swimming off Pompano Beach Club in Southampton, at around 11,40am.

He was helped to shore, administered CPR, and taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital via ambulance, where he was later pronounced dead.

A police spokesman added: “Foul play is not suspected and a family liaison officer has been assigned to provide support to the deceased’s family at this time.”

Mr Power and his wife Mary Ellen Power, owners of popular businesses in the town, were described by the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily as “staples of the community”.

Mr Power, known to be a keen swimmer, was said to have been pulled offshore by a current.

According to his daughter, Cathy Power Pattisall, he was “doing what he loved with the woman he loved in the place that he loved to be”.

The couple had recently been bestowed the Prentis Award by the College of William and Mary.

They ran the Cheese Shop and the Fat Canary restaurant on Williamsburg’s Merchants Square.