The athletics department at Simon Fraser University is reeling after the quarterback of the Clan football team, Bernd Dittrich, died early Wednesday morning at Royal Columbian Hospital, hours after he was pulled unconscious from the swimming pool on the school's Burnaby campus.

While the cause of death has yet to be officially determined, SFU's head football coach Dave Johnson said he learned at the hospital that Dittrich, who was 21 years old, had a previously undetected heart condition.

"He was a great kid," said Johnson. "He is a kid who was a great example to our young guys, and a leader for our older guys."

"The SFU athletics community has lost an exceptional young man," said SFU's senior director of athletics, Dr. David Murphy. "The whole (SFU Athletics) department, not just the football team, is grieving."

Johnson said Dittrich was swimming to rehabilitate an injured shoulder that caused him to miss the team's last two games of the season.

Originally from Vienna, Austria, Dittrich fell in love with American football and started playing for the Vienna Vikings club team, where he was coached for five years by current SFU offensive coordinator Shawn Olson. When he was 17, Dittrich moved to Heavener, Oklahoma where he played quarterback and linebacker for the Heavener High School Wolves.

Olson then enticed Dittrich to play for his new employer, SFU. He joined the Clan in August, 2007, alongside fellow Vienna Viking teammate Daniel Stanzel. He became the team's starting quarterback in 2008, leading the Clan to their first victory in over three years in his very first start. The team won four more games that season, their best record since 2003, and earned an appearance in the Canada West Hardy Cup final.

Dittrich was in the third year of a Bachelor of Science program. He is survived by his family in Austria.