Post-mortem guidelines loss of life of former Wolfpack swim coach unintended

Raleigh

How did it happen? How could it happen?

How did John “Jack” Roney, a former N.C. State swimming and diving coach, 39 and an excellent, avid swimmer, die of drowning at a local pool?

Those were questions raised after Roney’s death in Raleigh on July 5, one that was sudden, that stunned his family, friends and those in the N.C. State community who knew him well or had been associated with the former Wolfpack swimmer.

Initially, the Roney family did not provide a cause of death. An autopsy by the N.C. Chief Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled it an accidental drowning.

A copy of the Medical Examiner autopsy and investigative report, obtained by The News & Observer, said Roney was at 6308 Hampton Ridge Road in Raleigh, the location of the Hampton Ridge Swim Club, when the incident occurred at 7:30 p.m on July 5.

The report said Roney was taken to the emergency department of WakeMed, where he died at 8:53 p.m.

What happened at the pool?

Information provided to EMS said Roney’s wife, Maresa, told medics her husband had been doing breathing exercises and holding his breath underwater, according to the report. No one else was at the pool at the time, she said.

Maresa Roney said she walked away to make a phone call and returned in about five minutes to find Jack Roney unresponsive and face down in the middle of the L-shaped pool, in 6 feet of water, according to the report.

Roney said she immediately pulled her husband from the pool, called 911 and began CPR. Medics arrived on scene at 7:36 p.m., the report said, and noted another EMS team had placed an I-gel airway device. Medics removed the I-gel, placed an endo-tracheal tube and continued CPR until 8:19 p.m., when Roney was taken to the hospital for treatment before his death.

The report said Roney had a history of ADHD and was in a “good athletic state.”

The report added: “There were no concerns for suicide, substance abuse, or foul play; no trauma was noted.”

The report said the heart was removed for “donor procurement.”

Law enforcement later reviewed surveillance footage of the incident that showed Jack Roney swimming. The report said the video showed Jack Roney submerging, “very briefly” surfacing after about 2 minutes and 14 seconds, then submerging again without resurfacing.

John Roney, Jack’s father, told the N&O on Tuesday that his son’s death was caused by “shallow water blackout.”

He noted it’s considered a rare event in terms of the total documented incidents per year but accounts for a significant portion of unexplained or elite swimmer drownings. It most frequently affects young, physically fit males under 40, freedivers, spearfishers, and competitive swimmers, John Roney said via email.

“We want it known that holding one’s breath underwater for extended periods is dangerous,” Roney said. “We’d like to prevent this from happening to someone else. Jack would too.”

Who was Jack Roney?

Roney, who would have turned 40 on July 29, was a Florida native whose family later moved to Charlotte, where he began swimming and quickly excelled, setting age-group records. Roney was a scholarship athlete at N.C. State and broke the school’s 200-yard backstroke record.

It was at NCSU that Roney met Meresa, also a Wolfpack swimmer. They were married 15 years and had five children.

After graduation, Roney coached with the Raleigh Swimming Association before becoming director of operations and an assistant coach for the Wolfpack swimming program. He later would leave coaching to enter software sales.

Roney received many tributes and remembrances after his death including a comment made by Pete William posted on the NCSU Swimming and Diving Facebook page.

Wrote William: “Some people leave this world, but the impact they made never will. You were the kind of man we should all strive to be — a devoted husband, an incredible father, a loyal friend, and someone who made everyone around you better just by being yourself. You were a role model in every sense of the word.”

A GoFundMe account set up to support Maresa Roney and the couple’s five children has raised $231,916 thus far.

There are plans in place for a “Jack Roney Memorial Pavilion” at Lake Johnson Pool. For information, go to Wolfpackelite.org.

This story was initially printed August 11, 2026 at 9:50 AM.