Drowning likely cause of rower's death

A.L. "Pete" Bentley links " rel="storyimage1" title="Drowning-likely-cause-of-rower-s-death.jpg"/>
<br> <img src=http://www.toledoblade.com/assets/gif/weblink_icon.gif> <b><font color=red>Toledo Rowing Club</b></font color=red>: <a href=" http://www.toledorowing.org/" target="_blank "><b>A.L. "Pete" Bentley links</b></a>

The preliminary cause of death for a 79-year-old Perrsyburg Township man whose body was found Monday in the Maumee River near International Park was drowning, according to the Lucas County Coroner's Office.

Anderton L. "Pete" Bentley, Jr., a champion rower, was found shortly before 8 a.m. in the river near downtown Toledo, where he was practicing for this year's world crew championships. The exact cause of his death is pending additional tests, authorities said.

A passer-by saw Mr. Bentley's body floating close to his capsized one-seat rowing shell on the International Park side of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Bridge. Based on Mr. Bentley's sign-in log at the Toledo Rowing Club's boathouse, where he stored his boat, police believe the accident occurred between 6:45 and 7:45 a.m.

It's unclear what caused the boat to flip or whether Mr. Bentley was starting or ending his workout. He was a national-level rower in his youth and in retirement became the Toledo Rowing Club's oldest member and one of its most decorated.

Police are investigating the death as an accident.