A 25-year-old woman drowned in Lake Hartwell on Jan. 11 during the “Striped Bass Challenge” fishing tournament.

The victim was identified as Kimberly Gomillion of Aiken, South Carolina.

Emergency services responded to Saddlers Creek State Park on the morning of Jan. 11 around 9:40 a.m., where four persons were reported in the water after their boat sank.

According to the Anderson County Office of the Coroner, Gomillion was with her boyfriend and his family participating in the “Striped Bass Challenge,” a fishing tournament in the area, when their boat began to take on water from high winds, causing it to sink.

The victims were thrown into the water roughly 300 feet from the shoreline, where one victim was able to swim to shore, and two victims were aided by a nearby boat. The fourth victim, Gomillion, passed.

The four victims were in the water for approximately 10-20 minutes before being pulled and taken to shore. First responders performed CPR on Gomillion, found 20-30 feet from the shoreline, face down in the water.

First responders continued their efforts in transport to a nearby AnMed hospital, where Gomillion was pronounced deceased at 11:47 a.m. after efforts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful.

Gomillion’s drowning has been ruled as an accident.

The “Striped Bass Challenge” takes place across several bodies of water in South Carolina and Georgia and made its stop in Lake Hartwell on Jan. 10, the second location of the tournament.

The Anderson County Office of the Coroner and the Department of Natural Resources will continue to monitor this investigation.