Florida man fails to resurface while freediving, U.S. Coast Guard crews begin emergency search | FOX 35 Orlando
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Florida man fails to resurface while freediving, U.S. Coast Guard crews begin emergency search

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Published  March 14, 2025 1:57pm EDT
Florida
FOX 35 Orlando

The Brief

    • The United States Coast Guard (USCG) said it is executing an emergency search after a man failed to resurface while freediving with a friend in Florida.
    • Officials said they are searching for Drake Sweet, who was last seen Thursday afternoon diving from a 21-foot boat called Soggy Foot.
    • Reports show both Sweet's friend and the boat are safely ashore.

NAPLES, Fla. - The United States Coast Guard (USCG) said it is executing an emergency search after a man failed to resurface while freediving with a friend in Florida. 

Officials said they are searching for Drake Sweet, who was last seen Thursday afternoon diving from a 21-foot boat.

Reports show both Sweet's friend and the boat are safely ashore. 

What led to the emergency search?

What we know:

The USCG said Sweet and his friend were freediving approximately 60 miles off the coast of Naples.

After Sweet failed to resurface, reports show his friend activated two satellite distress signals around 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Officials said Sweet was last seen wearing a gray camouflage wetsuit, blue dive fins and a black weight belt.

On Friday, search crews said they recovered equipment, including a speargun and a weight belt, at the bottom of the Gulf just before 1 p.m. 

Reports show that both air and surface crews, along with aviation units, are currently scanning a broad area of the Southwest Florida coast.

USCG officials said the search is ongoing at this time.

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The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Seventh District in a social media post on March 14, 2025.

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