A Marine recruit

from Peachtree City remained in critical condition Thursday after he was

injured while participating in swimming qualification during training

Monday at Parris Island, S.C.

Joshua D. Issac,

19, had difficulty swimming to the side of the pool after completing one

portion of the qualification, according to a news release from the Marine

Corps. Pool staff removed him from the water and began performing CPR,

officials said.

Issac was taken

to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston where he is

currently being treated. An investigation to determine the exact circumstances

of the incident is still pending, according to the Marine Corps.

"Our thoughts

and prayers are with this young man and his family," said Lt. Col.

Patrick J. Campbell, commanding officer of the 2nd Recruit Training Battalion.

Issac, a volunteer

firefighter with the Peachtree City Fire Department, began training June

3 as a member of Fox Company.

Capt. Jennifer

Radcliff of the Marine Corps public affairs office Radcliff said Issac

was participating in a qualification called Combat Water Survival 4. According

to Radcliff, the qualification has four parts, all of which are required

to receive the certification including:

A 25-meter

shallow water swim.

Jumping off

a 10-foot tower into the pool and swimming directly to the side.

Treading water

for four minutes (recruits can inflate their blouse or float also to qualify).

A 25-meter

deep-water swim without gear or boots. Recruits just wear their camouflage

shirts and trousers.

Issac was in

the fire department's Explorer program before becoming a volunteer firefighter.

He had taken a leave of absence to attend the Marine recruit training,

Lohr said.

Sgt. John Dunlap,

the leader of the department's Explorer program, said the news of Issac's

situation came as a shock, particularly to Explorers in the group who

were close to him.

"It definitely

came as a shock to everybody," Dunlap said, particularly because

Issac is motivated and "knows what he wants to do and how he wants

to do it."

If Dunlap needed

anything done, he could always count on Issac to do it. Issac "is

one of the best mannered kids I've ever met," Dunlap said. "He's

calm, very thoughtful and respectful of other people, a very likeable

kid."

"If anybody

is capable of bouncing back from something like this, it's Josh,"

Dunlap said.

Swim qualification

for recruits takes place during the fifth week of recruit training and

it must be completed for a recruit to graduate from training. All Marines

must maintain a level of swim qualification as part of their annual training

requirements since most Marines will be stationed aboard a Naval vessel

at some point in their career.