POLAND — A 21-year-old man who nearly drowned earlier this month while swimming in Range Pond has died, authorities said Tuesday.

Hunter Duffy, 21, of Auburn had been swimming with friends Aug. 3 when he apparently swam out too far and became fatigued.

The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office made public his identity Tuesday and reported he had died Aug. 7 at a hospital.

The Range Pond boat launch received a call of a reported drowning shortly after 2 p.m. on Aug. 3.

On his way back to shore, Duffy had apparently gone underwater and remained there between five and 10 minutes before friends located him and brought him back to shore, said Chief Deputy William Gagne.

Witnesses performed CPR on Duffy before ambulances arrived.

The victim was taken to a local hospital where he was reported to be in critical condition, Gagne said.

Nathan Doherty, a former Androscoggin County Sheriff’s deputy, was in town from San Diego, California, enjoying an annual family reunion. After delivering coffee to family members on the beach, he headed into Range Pond to swim with his daughters and nephew.

Doherty said he recalled seeing a group swimming further from the shore than they should, so he made a mental note of them since there was no lifeguard. Shortly after, the group began swimming back to shore separately, about 5 to 10 yards between each swimmer.

About five minutes later, Doherty heard a scream, then a yell for help, and then, “he’s underwater.”

Doherty told the children to swim back to shore as he began swimming toward the commotion. The group, now only 15-20 yards away, was panicking as several swimmers attempted to respond.

“One of the young men in the group dove into the water and resurfaced within a few seconds and said, ‘he’s right there,’ as he motioned directly below him,” Doherty said. “I was about 5-7 feet from him at that time.”

That area of the pond is about 15 feet deep, Doherty estimated, so it took him 30-45 seconds to locate Duffy and bring him to the surface. Once at the surface, Doherty yelled for someone to grab Duffy’s leg.

“Thankfully, there were enough swimmers there, including my cousin, Christopher, from Methuen, MA, to swim him into shore,” Doherty said. “I was exhausted and had to back away from the group to catch my breath.”

Doherty’s sister-in-law, Misti Doherty, was another who jumped into action, following her brother-in-law out to the group. She and the other swimmers were able to return to shore with Duffy as Nathan returned to his children to rest.

Misti, formerly an emergency medical technician and currently a CPR instructor, began chest compressions on Duffy who had no pulse.

“I did attempt to defibrillate, but no shock was advised by the AED (guidelines),” Misti Doherty said. “Along with myself and our cousin (Chris’s) wife, there were two other bystanders assisting in compressions until EMS arrived.”

Chief Deputy William Gagne told the Sun Journal earlier that there had been no evidence of drug or alcohol use.

“I think they swam out too far and he got tired and when he tried to return, he couldn’t, and he went underwater,” Gagne said.

A GoFundMe page has been established to help Duffy’s family with funeral costs: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-hunter-duffys-funeral-expenses.