Valentin Valkov drowned in the Connecticut River early Friday morning while celebrating his imminent graduation from the Tuck Bridge Program.
Following an extensive search, state and local law enforcement officials recovered the 21-year-old Bulgarian's body around 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
Although divers searched throughout Friday and into Saturday, authorities found the body by monitoring an underwater camera from a television screen on shore, Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone said.
Hanover police said they believe Valkov, an undergraduate at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., entered the river from the Vermont side and swam about two-thirds of the way across before disappearing around 2 a.m. Friday morning.
Valkov was attempting "The Ledyard Challenge," a traditionally nude swim across the Connecticut River, along with 14 of his classmates, Bridge participants said. He was slated to graduate from the four-week program on Friday.
Although College officials and the Hanover Police have not released the details surrounding the incident, Giaccone did confirm that alcohol played a role in Valkov's death.
Valkov's body has been sent to the New Hampshire Medical Examiners Facility in Concord, N.H., for an autopsy.
A junior economics major, Valkov volunteered with the Trinity College Habitat for Humanity and was elected president of his school's Spanish club. He was scheduled to attend Oxford University for the next academic year.
State and local law enforcement officers mobilized Friday morning around the Ledyard Bridge and the College's nearby swimming dock in an effort that College officials described as "focused on recovery."
Hanover authorities were among the first to arrive at the scene of the incident.
"At approximately 2:21 a.m., Hanover Police and Fire departments responded to the Connecticut River in the area of the Ledyard Bridge for the report of a male swimmer who was drowning," a police press release stated.
Giaccone originally expressed uncertainty whether the victim's body could be located in the muddy river, explaining that the visibility in the water extended only to about one's hand.
"It'll be luck if we find him," Giaccone said on Friday afternoon.
Authorities on the scene Friday afternoon clustered on the College's swimming dock, while divers and the New Hampshire Marine Patrol could be seen in small, motorized boats below the Ledyard Bridge.
According to the Bridge website, the program is a "fast track to mastery of business basics," which is offered to "juniors, seniors and recent graduates of the arts and sciences colleges." Recently awarded a grant from the UPS Foundation, the second session of the Bridge program is the first to offer a non-profit course of study.
The second session of the program, of which Valkov was a part, ended on Thursday, Aug. 11, and many parents were scheduled to arrive Friday to attend graduation and pick up students from the program.
College representatives praised the work of state and local law enforcement officials working on the case.
"Their responsiveness was most impressive," College President James Wright said in a statement sent to the Dartmouth community. "In difficult situations such as these we are emphatically reminded of the dedication and the professionalism of these men and women."
Staff writer Kevin Garland contributed to this report.
