A swimmer has been found dead after going missing in a canal early Thursday morning.

He was last reported in distress in the Nerang River near Chevron Island Bridge on the Gold Coast about 7.10am.

Emergency crews, including police and local lifeguards, began searching after witnesses spotted the man struggling near the bridge connecting Chevron Island to the mainland.

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Queensland Police Service said multiple people witnessed the man swimming in the canal before he disappeared underwater.

The Gold Coast canals are notorious for bull sharks, adding to concerns for the missing swimmer’s safety.

Police divers located the man’s body about 11am.

At this stage, police are treating the death as non-suspicious but investigations into the circumstances of his death continue and it will be referred to the coroner.