VIJAYAWADA: A 46-year-old head constable and an expert swimmer died of cardiac arrest while practicing for attempting a Guinness World record in River Krishna at Sitanagaram near Vijayawada on Sunday. He was rushed to the hospital but the doctors declared him brought dead.
The deceased Lanke Umamaheswara Rao is a native of Voleru in Batteprolu mandal of Guntur district and was working as head constable in the Special Police Force unit at Vijayawada. He had received numerous state level and national level awards in swimming competitions.
For attempting a world record on the occasion of Republic Day this week, Umamaheswara Rao had set out to practice swimming at Krishna River Swimming Club near Lotus Hotel in Sitanagaram on Sunday. However, he felt pain in the chest and came out of the river following which his friends rushed him to the hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead. The doctors stated that Rao died due to cardiac arrest caused by internal shockwaves of cold water in the river.