EASTON, Mass. – Aaron Ortiz had only moved to town three years ago, but in that time managed to become friends with just about everyone his age.

The 15-year-old had “hundreds” of friends, by one account. When asked about Ortiz, two of those friends answered in unison, “He was just the nicest kid.”

Ortiz, who was to enter Oliver Ames High School as a sophomore in two weeks, died Thursday after drowning at a school-sponsored football camp in Monmouth, Maine.

The teen was one of 97 Easton youths attending the camp, one of whom was his identical twin brother, Adam.

Friends and neighbors said the twins were inseparable – and often indistinguishable. They were the same height, had the same build and sported the same haircut.

The twins were swimming together with another teen at about noon Thursday on Lake Cobbosseecontee when Aaron fell behind, according to a friend.

“They turned around and Aaron wasn’t there,” said 14-year-old Raechel Marandola of Easton, who had learned the details via cell phone calls from campers. “Adam went to the lifeguard and said, ‘I can’t find my brother.’ “

Shocked friends gathered to console each other at Frothingham Memorial Park in Easton on Thursday afternoon. A former girlfriend, 15-year-old Sam Barrett, said she had been crying for hours.

“I didn’t believe it when I heard. I still can’t believe it,” Barrett said.

Friends said Ortiz had several passions, and all were athletic. He worked out every day and was probably the most muscular kid in school, according to friends.

“He was jacked. He had a perfect body,” Barrett said.

Ortiz was a wrestler and also loved to box, even taking part in the boxing show at the Brockton Fair in late June.

But his main love was football; friends said it’s what he wanted to do with his life.

Yet there was one thing he didn’t excel at, and it was no big secret to those who knew him: Ortiz wasn’t good at swimming.

“He didn’t even like to swim,” said 15-year-old Ryan Werner.

Ortiz had been swimming about 150 feet from shore when he “got in distress and went under,” Monmouth Police Chief Robert Annese said.

School officials said the youths were taking a midday break from practice at the time, and the swim was not part of a drill.

The preseason camp was being held for freshmen, junior varsity and varsity teams from Easton, along with teams from the Norton public schools. The two school districts were renting the private Camp Cobbossee.

Students and coaches had arrived Wednesday and were scheduled to return home Monday.

Instead, the Easton teams returned home after the tragedy Thursday. The teams reached Oliver Ames High School in two buses just after 9 p.m.

Waiting inside the school were throngs of parents, siblings and friends. After the buses pulled up, the teens silently filed into the school – many of them apparently still wearing their swimming trunks.

School officials said guidance counselors, school psychologists and administrators were available to families Thursday night.

They will also be available this morning at the school starting at 8 a.m.

Friends and family members at Ortiz’s home said they weren’t ready to talk Thursday.

A neighbor, David Murphy, said the tragedy could not have struck a more upstanding youngster. Murphy said his son, Josh, was always welcomed by Ortiz to play games with youths in the neighborhood.

“How many kids would do that these days?” Murphy said. “He was just a very polite, nice guy. What a shame.”

Staff writer Elaine Allegrini and correspondent Sue Tolar contributed to this report. Kyle Alspach can be reached at [email protected].