Family of 19-year-old swimmer who drowned off Atlantic Beach: ‘He really loved people’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The brothers of a missing swimmer found dead in Atlantic Beach are now planning their sibling’s funeral. The three boys moved to Jacksonville from Poland, about a month ago. Their family is still overseas.

Stoic and somber, Alex and Victor Myroshnychenko remember their 19-year-old brother, Michael, taken from them two days ago.

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“He really likes running,” Alex said. “He really liked going to church.”

“He loves God and he wants to help people,” Victor said.

Action News Jax, Meghan Moriarty, spoke one on one with the two brothers in their home Friday.

(MORIARTY): how’s that make you feel that someone is saying that--you know--your brother is a hero?

(VICTOR): My brother all his life be like a hero because he really loved people.

(MORIARTY): Do you believe your brother’s a hero?

(VICTOR): “Yeah, we know it”

Michael’s calling to help others prompted him to step in on Tuesday night when three swimmers went into distress. He was able to get the man and two young girls to shore, but not himself.

It prompted a search by police lifeguards and coastguard.

“Maybe 3 A.M., the guy from the police say they found a body, my brother,” Victor said. He added that Michael wasn’t a strong swimmer.

The 19-year-old is the second swimmer to drown at a Jacksonville beach since Memorial Day.

“We have seen a big increase of distressed swimmers, and we’ve actually looked to the reasoning for these distressed swimmers,” Lt. Max Ervanian with Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue said. “One of the majority reasons why these swimmers are going into distress is their overestimated ability.”

Lt. Ervanian said to never go into the water past your waist if you’re unsure of your swimming skills.

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He also explained how to look out for rip currents. Look for these three things:

• A disorganized wave activity
• Discoloration of the water. You’' see a little bit darker or murkier color
• No waves breaking within a specific part of the rip current

“When you look out, you’ll see that there are no waves breaking together while there are waves breaking in between,” Lt. Ervanian added.

If you see a swimmer in distress, call 911 immediately.

Michael’s 20th birthday would have been this Sunday. A memorial service will be held at the Arlington Memorial Park Chapel on Monday, followed by a burial at Arlington Memorial Park Cemetery.

If you’d like to read more about Michael and see how you can help his family, a friend has set up a GoFundMe page with more information

For alerts about rip current risks and beach conditions, you can download our free first alert weather app (LINK) and get alerts from JaxReady the City’s emergency preparedness site.

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