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The swimmer who went missing after being attacked by a shark near California’s Bay Area has been identified as a tech entrepreneur and elite kite surfer who hoped to represent Gambia in the Olympics, according to reports.
Felix Louis N’Jai, 52, apparently was attacked by the predator as he swam near Wildcat Beach at the southern end of Point Reyes National Park on Sunday morning, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
He had been camping at the remote site to celebrate a friend’s wedding when he went in the water with two friends, including the groom, and apparently was dragged under by the shark.
Officials have not identified him, but friends and the sailing magazine Latitude 38 have named him as N’Jai, a businessman whose LinkedIn page lists him as CEO of tech startup Eniac Labs.
On Monday, a group of kite surfers who gathered at Chrissy Field to mourn N’Jai said the groom described his horrifying final moments.
“We all got in a circle and we listen to the story. And there wasn’t a dry eye in the group,” friend Jim Kennan told NBC Bay Area.
“A shark came up, grabbed Felix by the neck supposedly, brought them down and that was the last they saw. Two other guys rushed out of the water, turned around and they saw blood and some commotion in the water. But no Felix and that was it,” he said.
Longtime pal David Thawley said N’Jai was a well-known kite surfer who had been preparing to compete in the Olympics for his native Gambia, KTVU reported.
“Felix was everything to every one of his friends. We felt like he was part of our family, and I know so many others felt this way too. He brought pure joy, love, and light everywhere he went. He radiated like the sun,” Thawley told the news outlet.
Thawley told the Chronicle that his friend came to San Francisco about 20 years ago and lived in Cole Valley.
“I developed a level of love for Felix that I’ve never experienced in anything other than a family,” said Thawley, who met N’Jai about 12 years ago.
“He’s been a very constant, positive and overwhelmingly influential part of my life since those days we first met,” he said, adding that N’Jai’s parents are both deceased and he did not have living siblings, a partner or kids.
Another friend, Steve Bodner, said N’Jai came up with nicknames for fellow swimmers — and that his was “Stevie B.”
“He’d be out on the water half a mile away and you’d hear, ‘Hey Stevie B,’ and then he’d pass you real close and give you a big smile,” he told the Chronicle.
“He was really enthusiastic about bringing people together,” said Bodner, who met N’Jai about 15 years ago when they learned how to kite surf.
“Felix was probably out on the water more than anyone I know,” he told the outlet. “He was kind of an inspiration for me to continue, to press on. Oftentimes, I wanted to give up and I saw Felix and continued to do it and he was a real mentor.”
Bodner said his friend decided to train for the Olympics when he learned that kiteboarding will make its debut at the 2024 Games in Paris — though that would involve launching a sailing federation in his native country and qualifying to compete.
“He was not letting any of that stop him,” Bodner told the paper. “We were like ‘You know you have to start a sailing federation, you’ve got to get funding,’ and he’d go, ‘Oh, no problem. I’ll do that; I’ll get it done.’ ”
Thawley said he hopes the grisly way N’Jai died will not take away from how he hopes he will be remembered.
“The idea that there is no trace to be found of Felix is haunting,” Thawley told the Chronicle.
“It’s grotesque that something so improbable and so dark is what consumed somebody that was such a bright light.”
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