Cristina Hodgson
A NINE-year-old swimmer from Algeciras has saved a three-year-old girl from drowning.
The events took place on Friday at around 11:30am in the community pool of a private urbanisation in Algeciras, where according to current regulations, a lifeguard is not required.
A three-year-old girl was playing on the grass near the swimming pool when she suddenly got up and ran towards the water and jumped in.
The toddler, who was without armbands or a swim vest, immediately started to sink.
Fortunately, Paloma Redondo Zamora, a nine-year-old swimmer from the National Sports Club Cuidad de Algeciras, was near the swimming pool at the time and observed how the young child had fallen into the water and had sunk to the bottom of the 1.3 metre-deep pool.
Zamora, without hesitation, dived into the water and grabbed the three-year-old by the waist and pulled her to the surface.
The mother of the club swimmer, once she had realised what had happened, swiftly aided her daughter to pull the toddler out of the water.
The heroic act has been met by praise by fellow club members and by Zamora’s coach, Manolo Calero, who highlighted the importance of knowing how to swim.
“Knowing how to swim is a pleasure; not knowing how to swim is a danger,” he said, quoting the words of another swimming coach, Lorenzo Muñoz Izal.
The incident comes following a string of unfortunate drownings in swimming pools across Spain during the month of August.
Costa Blanca South alone has seen three recent pool fatalities involving young children, the most recent a three-year-old French boy who drowned in a swimming pool at a holiday home in Pilar de la Horadada.
According to the Royal Spanish Lifesaving Federation, 77 people have lost their lives due to unintentional drowning in July.
