‘Heroic’: How Virginia teens' high school golf tryouts turned into life-saving mission at Lake Culpeper

Three Virginia teens were hailed as "heroes" after they dramatically rescued two adults and a child whose kayaks capsized on Lake Culpeper. The incident happened on 27 July when the teens showed up at the Culpeper Country Club links to compete for places on Eastern View High School’s golf team, the local police department said in a statement.

The trio of Virginia teenagers jumped into a nearby lake to rescue three people, then earned spots on the golf team, according to officials who are hailing their actions as “heroic," The Guardian reported.

Andrew Tuggle, 15, and 17-year-olds Gavin Cain and Jackson Castro were near the course’s second hole when they heard screams of distress coming from adjacent Culpeper Lake, as they later said in an interview broadcast on Tuesday by news channel WUSA of nearby Washington DC.

They soon realized it was a three-year-old boy and two adults yelling as the family struggled in deep water after their kayaks had capsized. Tuggle told WUSA that he could see one of the adults holding the child above his head, but the effort was “causing him to go underwater”.

"At first, it was just a little boy screaming," Cain told the outlet. "The guy is holding him up, and it's causing him to go underwater," Tuggle said, describing what he saw as they approached.

Meanwhile, the Culpeper Police Department described the incident in a statement, saying, "On July 27, 2026, at approximately 3:35 PM, three Eastern View High School students didn't hesitate before diving into Lake Culpeper to save the lives of two adults and a young child."

The police added, "Culpeper Police Department officers and Culpeper County emergency services were dispatched to a report of a sinking boat on the lake. According to the caller, a family, including a small child who could not swim, was in the water after their kayaks capsized."

Police said Tuggle, Castro and Cain, members of the Eastern View High School golf team, were on the adjacent Culpeper Country Club course for team try-outs when they spotted the capsized kayaks.

While teammates called 911 and alerted the coaching staff, Tuggle, Castro and Cain ran to the water's edge, jumped in, and swam out to reach the family. "The three teens brought both adults and the child safely to shore, then went back for the kayaks," police said.

"The guy actually came up to me and said, 'You saved my life,'" Tuggle said.

The location made the rescue especially difficult, police said, describing the area as "a steep, overgrown hillside with a boulder-strewn shoreline between December Ct and the water intake of the Lake Culpeper Dam."

"Officers later used drone footage and Axon Translation Services to confirm no one remained in the water. All three kayakers were wearing life jackets and were uninjured," police said.

'Heroic'

The Culpeper police’s statement asserted that Tuggle, Cain and Castro “prevented a tragedy”. A quote attributed to department chief, Chris Settle, said that the teens’ “courage and quick thinking...saved three lives”.

Chief Settle said, "These three young men saw someone in danger and acted immediately, without hesitation, at potentially great personal risk to themselves. That kind of courage and quick thinking is what saved three lives on Monday. I hope their actions inspire all of us, and I'm incredibly proud to see this kind of leadership from young people in our community. We're grateful everyone was safe and unharmed.

VHS Golf Coach Patrick Thornhill also said, "The instinct and courage these young men showed to jump into action and save lives is heroic. I could not be prouder of them."