A young student died on Friday after getting into difficulty while swimming in west Waterford on Friday afternoon.

The victim was last night named locally as Cian Nugent (21), a UCC engineering student from Old Parish in the Waterford Gaeltacht.

Mr Nugent, from a farming background, was among a group of five who were swimming at Whiting Bay, some 3km from Ardmore.

At around 1.30pm, gardaí received a report that a number of people had got into difficulty while swimming in the bay.

Crew members from Youghal RNLI in addition to units of the Irish Coast Guard attended the incident after the alarm was raised.

“The alarm was raised by a member of the public," a spokesperson for Youghal RNLI said. "Two of the swimmers subsequently made it to shore unaided and the lifeboat began a search for the third swimmer.

“The Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117 from Waterford was also tasked along with the Coast Guard Units from Youghal and Ardmore.

“Youghal RNLI located the casualty and they were subsequently airlifted by helicopter.”

The young man was taken by air ambulance to Cork University Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

The other two people were uninjured.

A file on the incident, which is being treated as a tragic accident, will be prepared for the coroner.