Jerry Dennis becomes fourth teen life saver to drown on the Gold Coast since 1996 as clubbies, mum look on A 17 year old surf lifesaver has drowned on Queensland's Gold Coast. IT WAS another black day in which life savers lost another of their own. Jerry Dennis, a 17-year-old ironman champion, plunged from his paddle board into a murky Gold Coast canal yesterday afternoon and never re-surfaced. Surf life saving officials can not confirm reports that he had chest pains before he died. Training for the Coolangatta Gold ironman race, he became the fourth teenage life saving competitor to drown in Gold Coast waters since 1996. Jerry Dennis was training for the Coolangatta Gold ironman race when he fell off his board on Thursday. His distraught mother was comforted at the scene by champion ironwoman Courtney Hancock. Fellow Gold Coast surf club Northcliffe clubbies were in tears as the tragedy unfolded. Paramedics tried to revive Jerry Dennis for at least 30 minutes as his fellow clubbies looked on. His mother was also at the scene. Panic rippled through the ranks when Jerry was noticed missing on the Mermaid Waters canal about 4.15pm. There was talk of a possible shark attack, but lifesavers said he had suffered chest pains. ``He was paddling and he just disappeared," said senior lifesaver Martin Ashfield, who helped pull the teen's body from the water. Clubbies formed a line on their boards in a desperate search for Jerry, as residents grabbed snorkels and goggles. The police helicopter hovered overhead and water police also joined the search. ``Everyone just lined up and started paddling and searching," Mr Ashfield said. ``They all started diving down trying to find him." It is believed Jerry Dennis had chest pains before falling off his paddle board. Canalfront residents joined the increasingly frantic search. ``We saw them training and then realised something had gone wrong," resident Linda Buck said. ``The police came and told us a young guy had gone off his board. One of the neighbours noticed that he'd gone off his board, come back up and then gone back down again. Wearing a pink fluorescent safety vest made compulsory following the deaths of teenage competitors Robert Gatenby, Saxon Bird and Matthew Barclay at the Australian championships on the Gold Coast Jerry was finally spotted about 5pm at the bottom of the 4m deep canal. READ MORE: Three families mourn their sons lost to Gold Coast waters ``He had a slight pulse but he was under for at least 30 minutes so he didn't have much hope," Mr Ashfield said. He said Jerry was `super fit' and must have had some sort of medical condition. ``Guys like him just don't fall off their boards and drown, especially in flat water," he said. The tragedy happened just days before the state surf life saving pool rescue championships, where Jerry was expected to challenge for medal honours. Surf Life Saving Queensland president Ralph Devlin said details of how Jerry died were still unclear. He told ABC radio this morning that Jerry was an outstanding swimmer. ``To fall off a craft in flat water in a canal, under controlled circumstances, is a very strange event," he said. ``One has to suspect there's some medical background but only the police investigation will tell us for sure. He described Jerry as a future star of the sport. Surf Life Saving Australia has come under fire for its safety precautions, including it's failure to introduce buoyancy vests which were recommended after a coronial inquiry into Bird's death.