Swimmer nearly dies as lifeguard 'fails to act'

A lifeguard has been suspended amid accusations he failed to come to the assistance of a drowning man at a Mt Maunganui swimming pool.

The lifeguard has spent this week on forced leave. Investigators arrived in Tauranga yesterday to begin an inquiry into why he allegedly did "nothing at all" to help a swimmer close to death.

Details have only just emerged of the incident at Bayfair's Baywave TECT Aquatic Centre on Saturday.

The swimmer, who spoke on the condition he not be identified, said he had a lucky escape after a lifeguard failed to act. His death was averted only as a result of quick thinking and the first-aid training of members of the public.

"I really don't know what this guy [lifeguard] was doing at the time. He must have been there, in the vicinity ... He has to be there all the time. But he didn't take any action. He did nothing at all - he didn't retrieve my body from the bottom and didn't perform CPR."

The drama unfolded about 10am when the 42-year-old victim lost consciousness during a free-diving training session.

"I was swimming lengths and taking limited breaths as you do for free diving - I guess I had done about 16 at the time.

"I was just swimming along. I was almost at the end, and bang, I basically ran out of air and the brain out of oxygen and everything just switched off."

Fellow swimmers who rescued him told him what happened next, he said.

"Apparently I was on the bottom of the pool for about 20 seconds. Then a woman who was in the next lane came down and tapped me on the shoulder to see if I was moving."

Realising he was drowning, she resurfaced, yelling and screaming to attract attention. Others then went to the man's aid, pulling his body from the bottom.

The lifeguard was allegedly just metres from the pool's edge and did nothing.

The group of about six, all from the Rob de Villiers swim squad, then pulled the man to the poolside, where they expected the lifeguard to take over.

"I was apparently lying on the side of the pool for about 15 or 20 seconds and no one took any action - not even the lifeguard. My face started going blue, really blue."

Two female swimmers then began CPR.

"Luckily it just took these ladies one or two breaths and chest compressions and I came round."

Pool manager Clinton McKee said the lifeguard had been stood down. All free-diving has been banned from the complex.

"Our main priority is the safety of people at the pool," he said.

Matt Claridge, operations manager for PoolSafe, the body that aims to reduce water-related injuries, was to begin an investigation at Baywave yesterday.

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES