Students killed in boating accident identified
March 30, 2021
The names of the two students killed in Sunday’s boating accident have been released by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State University Police Department Tuesday afternoon.
Iowa State Crew Club members Yaakov Ben-David, a sophomore in accounting, and Derek Nanni, a freshman in chemistry, were killed when their boat capsized Sunday morning.
Three other students were also in the boat but were rescued. For privacy purposes, those students’ names will not be released.
The five Crew Club members were practicing at Little Wall Lake on Sunday morning as they normally would at that time.
At around 9:30 a.m., a 911 call was received by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office saying a boat had capsized in the lake. Sheriff Doug Timmons said residents who lived on the lake jumped in the water to help save the individuals, calling those residents “heroes.”
In addition to the three students rescued, one student’s body was recovered Sunday. On Monday morning, 24 hours after the initial 911 call was made, the final student’s body was recovered.
In the days following the accident, the Crew Club’s Instagram page was flooded with posts from other collegiate and professional crew clubs sending their well-wishes and dressing in red and yellow to honor the Iowa State students who were lost.
No information regarding why the boat capsized has been released and is still pending investigation from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department and an internal review from Iowa State University.