THE death of a dedicated rowing coach who fell off his bike into a chilly river during a training session was caused by a unfortunate combination of events, a coroner has said.

It was "bad luck" that Bill Grant, 67, slid off a riverside path and ended up face down in the Wear near Durham city centre at 8.15am on Saturday February 28, an inquest was told.

A post-mortem examination revealed the stalwart of Durham Amateur Rowing Club, from Cleadon, South Tyneside, had an enlarged heart, narrowing of a blood vessel and hypertensive heart disease.

But there was no apparent sign of a heart attack which would have caused him to fall, the hearing at Crook Civic Centre, County Durham, was told by pathologist Dr Paul Barrett.

The post-mortem examination did not reveal what caused him to come off his bike, although some kind of medical "event" related to his heart disease, was suspected to be to blame. But it was not thought to have been serious enough to kill him.

The subsequent fall into the cold water could have caused another shock to his heart, the inquest heard.

Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle said: "He has probably had an event while he was riding the bike. He has then gone down the bank side and entered the water.

"There is a touch of bad luck as to where he ended up.

"Had he not ended up in the water, he would have felt unwell for a little while but probably walked away."

He recorded that Mr Grant's death was "the consequence of sudden immersion in the River Wear following a natural, non-accidental event while riding his pedal cycle".

Detective Sergeant Martin Wilson said Mr Grant was coaching four members of the rowing club, riding his bike parallel to the crew.

He would typically shout instructions and comment on their technique, the officer said.

Members of the crew heard him shout and one of them saw him slide down the bank into the water. None of them saw what caused the fall, the detective said.

They expected him to get up but he remained face down in the water.

Two of them dragged him out of the water and their shouts for help were answered by two medical students who were running that morning, and who tried to revive him.

Paramedics were called and the air ambulance also attended but no-one could revive him.

Mr Wilson said inquiries showed there were no suspicious circumstances, the bike had no defects and the path, although muddy, had no potholes or signs of a skid.

Mr Grant's wife Jenny, a doctor, and his son Richard attended the inquest. They did not want to comment afterwards. The couple also have daughters Catherine and Emma.

After Mr Grant's death, rowing club chairman Martin Judson paid tribute to the coach and boat warden who looked after 80 boats: "When you wanted a volunteer, Bill was there, willing to help.

"He was a character with a loud infectious laugh. He was one of those nice guys it is good to have around.

"How do we fill boots like those?"

The tragedy followed the deaths of three students who drowned in the Wear in the space of 15 months, although they died after nights out.

An inquest for the latest of them, Euan Coulthard, 19, follows this afternoon.