An annual event that brings freedivers from around the world to Palm Beach County honored a former Palm Beach resident who died in a spearfishing accident on Mother's Day.
The second annual South Florida Freedive Fest, which was held July 10-15 at Phil Foster Park, Lake Park Marina and other locations throughout the county, paid tribute to Virgil Price III, a well-known freediver who went missing May 12 while exploring a World War II shipwreck off the coast of Jensen Beach .
U.S. Coast Guard officials launched a search for the West Palm Beach resident, but suspended it the following evening. The agency reported a search of more than 1,415 miles and 36 hours, according to TC Palm . His body has not been recovered.
Price, 39, a graduate of the Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, was a "pioneering instructor" in the area who offered continuing education and training for freedivers, said Kami Kreaps, chief growth expert for Riviera Beach-based tour operator Live Free Diving.
"He had a profound passion for our local freediving community, and witnessing the progress and success of local freedivers brought him immense joy," she told the Daily News. "Virgil played a pivotal role in launching the inaugural South Florida Freedive Fest last year, and was instrumental in organizing freedive camps for at-risk youth in Trinidad and Tobago."
To honor Price's legacy during the six-day festival, which drew 30 freedivers and featured a series of competitive and recreational events, organizers designed a special logo and featured it prominently on official event shirts and banners. They also held a moment of silence with Price's Florida Freedivers co-workers, who then exchanged stories about the impact he made on the local freediving community.
"Honoring him through this festival is a testament to his lasting influence and dedication to the sport and community," Kreaps said.
Price was a former Palm Beach Day Academy student whose parents, Virgil Price II and Kate Cerasaro, live on the island.
Cerasaro told the Daily News her son was an avid outdoorsman and "Renaissance guy" who went alligator hunting, collected World War II and Civil War artifacts, played in a band, made homemade alligator stew, and taught surfing, diving and spearfishing.
"He would take all these kids out — he called them his 'Lost Boys' — and they'd go to Munyon Island and they would build bonfires and have cookouts, things that people don't do anymore," she said. "I said to somebody, if anybody thinks that Virgil's going to grow up and put on a blue blazer and be a preppy Palm Beacher, it's never going to happen. Somebody's going to have to fall in love with somebody who lives in board shorts and loves animals."
Plans are underway for the 3rd Annual South Florida Freedive Fest, which will be held July 16-21, 2025, at locations throughout Palm Beach County.
For information or to learn more about other upcoming events, visit www.LiveFreeDiving.com or contact Kreaps at kami@livefreediving.com.
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News , part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com . Help support our journalism. Subscribe today .
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Freediving community pays tribute to "pioneering instructor" lost in spearfishing accident
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