A Robert's Arm councillor died while swimming late Tuesday afternoon. (Google Maps)

A well-known man from central Newfoundland died Tuesday while swimming alone near his home.

Aubrey Goulding, 58, a former councillor and school administrator in Robert's Arm, went swimming in Crescent Lake around 5:30 p.m.

Not long after, family members found him floating in the water. Paramedics were unable to revive him.

Deputy Mayor Derrick Hicks said Goulding's death leaves a void in the community.

"He's a bit of an icon, you know," Hicks said.

"He's a guy that, everywhere you see him, he makes himself known to people. He's very friendly, very sociable, very witty [and] very creative when it came to poetry and that kind of stuff."

An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death.