A keen cyclist from Meopham died suddenly after going for a swim while on a mountain biking holiday with his wife and a group of friends, an inquest heard.

Gareth Collins, who was known as Gaz, was found unresponsive in the pool at a rented villa on the first day of the trip to Épagny Metz-Tessy in France, near the Swiss border.

The 45-year-old, who grew up in Lordswood and went to Lordswood Primary School, was one of the founding members of Oakenden Bike Polo club and was on holiday with club members when tragedy struck in July 2016.

Giving evidence at an inquest at Archbishop’s Palace, Maidstone, his wife, Nicky Collins, described her husband of 23 years as a fun, hardworking man.

She said: “He wasn’t a strong swimmer, we had swimming lessons a year or so ago. If we went somewhere and there was a pool, we’d have a bit of a swim.”

Mrs Collins said her husband, an insurance underwriter, had made no complaints of ill health.

Mr Collins had driven the 580 miles to the villa over two days. The car did not have air conditioning and temperatures were about 30C.

When they arrived, Mr Collins had one beer and at about 5pm, he told his wife he was a bit hot and was going for a swim.

When she went to look for him 15 minutes later, she discovered him at the bottom of the pool, unresponsive.

He was taken to hospital but could not be saved.

A post mortem found nothing to indicate why he died. The pathologist gave the cause of death as a sudden unexplained death.

A report from Dr David Woodhead at Meopham Medical Centre said that aside from a few muscular and skeletal problems, Mr Collins had no health issues, had never smoked and had a low alcohol intake.

Mr Morris said it was a tragic case. Mr Collins had gone to France with the view of having a “really special mountain biking trip”.

He said: “He was clearly a very keen sportsman and from all the evidence I’ve heard was generally fit.

“While he was not a strong swimmer he was perfectly capable in a small pool in a holiday setting. The most probable explanation is he suffered a sudden traumatic cardiac event.”

He concluded Mr Collins had died of natural causes.

A JustGiving page set up in his memory has raised more than £4,000.

The money will go to the Dr Hadwen Trust, a charity Mr Collins had supported for many years, which carries out research into human medical conditions without testing on animals.

In a tribute paid to him on the bike polo website, polo-velo.net, Mr Collins was described as a “leader in his team as well on the field as for the organisation of his club”.

It said he was also into mountain biking and supported the Welsh rugby and football teams.