ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University student Scott J. Paavola, 19, a sophomore in the College of Engineering and member of the men's swim team, died Oct. 15 of a medical condition, according to the Ithaca Police Department.

Paavola died unexpectedly at 525 Stewart Ave., the house of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, where he was a member. Cornell Police and the Ithaca Police Department conducted a joint investigation. The Ithaca Police Department issued a news release Oct. 16 stating, "A forensic postmortem examination conducted at Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton has found ... Scott Paavola's cause of death to be a medical condition associated with an enlarged heart."

Joe Lucia, head coach of the Cornell men's swimming team who has coached at Cornell for 15 years, said that in last year's season, "Scott probably had one of the best freshman years of any athlete I've coached here. He won a variety of dual meets and had a fantastic championship meet here in the freestyle. He swam all his best times in the 500 free, the 1,000 free and the 1,650 free, ranking him fourth all-time in Cornell history. He was kind and gentle, but tough when he swam."

Paavola entered Cornell in fall 2001. He had been named swimmer of the year during his senior year at Grosse Pointe North High School. His hometown was Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. He is survived by his parents, James and Noel Paavola, a brother and sister, all of Grosse Pointe.