Family and friends of a young man who drowned at Birds Hill Provincial Park Saturday are in shock.

The family told CTV News Jean-Baptiste Ajua, 22, died after swimming at the beach, but don’t know what exactly caused him to go under the water.

“All I can say, for someone so young, this is a  guy who was so healthy. It’s shocking,” said Ajua’s brother-in-law Roger Habimana. “They have been crying ever since they mentioned he was missing.”

Habimana said he was on the other side of the beach when Ajua decided to go swimming with a friend. He said at one point, Ajua started fighting to stay above water and just kept sinking.

Swimmers were ordered out of the water and massive search was launched Saturday afternoon by EMS, East St. Paul water rescue, as well as the beach officers and volunteers to locate the young man.

According  to RCMP, the victim was located around 5 p.m., transported to a Winnipeg hospital, but did not survive.

Habimana said Ajua went to the beach with about 20 people as part of an outing with the St. Kizito Youth Choir, which included family and friends.

He said Ajua has four brothers and two sisters in Manitoba. He said some of the family members were too distraught to speak.

Habimana said Ajua became a Canadian citizen Jan. 29.

On Saturday, Baptiste’s father, Benoit Ntirushwa, spoke to CTV through a translator.

“He was a very good son to me, he always wanted to help me in any way, I was very shocked,” said Ntirushwa.

He said the family is devastated by the loss and are leaning on each other for support.

"The only thing I ask you is to pray for him so he can be received by God well,” Ntirushwa said.

On Sunday, the University of Manitoba Bisons track and field and cross country head coach Claude Berube released a statement responding to Ajua’s death.

“On behalf of Bison Track & Field and Cross Country and the Bison Sports family, we would like to extend our condolences to the Ajua family and friends for their sudden loss,” he said in the statement.

“Jean-Baptiste was a kind and gentle person and also a talented young runner. JB as he was known by his teammates was well liked by all. He also had a busy and balanced life juggling school, work, family life while performing very well.”

Ajua was a member of the Bison track and cross country teams during the 2013-2014 varsity season. He finished 10th fastest Canada West men’s runner at the 2013 CIS Cross Country Championship.

Beach Safety Program in Manitoba provincial parks

On Sunday the province extended sympathies to the families dealing with the tragedy.

In an email to CTV News the province said the Beach Safety Program in Manitoba provincial parks is primarily focused on public water safety education.

It said the Beach Safety Program focuses on messaging, reminding beach-goers that swimming is unsupervised. Officers are out to remind people to be responsible and know the limits, said the province.

In total, there are 44 beach safety officers at Birds Hill Provincial Park, according to the province.

It said that staffing rates vary by beach and by time period, with a maximum of 20 officers staffed at Birds Hill at peak time.

At Grand Beach and Winnipeg Beach, the province said there are a total of 42 beach safety officers.

At peak time, a maximum of 14 officers are staffed at Grand Beach and a maximum of nine are staffed at Winnipeg Beach.

The province said it doesn’t staff lifeguards at provincial parks.

“There was an inquest in the late 1980s or early 1990s that recommended against providing lifeguard services. Lifeguard services have specific requirements for ratios between the number of swimmers and the lifeguard. On a beach with many hundreds (if not thousands) of people, this service would be almost impossible to provide,” said a provincial spokesperson.

The province said that individuals are responsible for themselves while on provincial park beaches.

- With files from CTV's Emad Agahi