Pool death mysteries

HOW COULD a teenager drown in a swimming pool during a poolside party at the same swimming pool?

We are totally mystified by the death of 19-year-old Adrian Sylvester whose body was pulled out of the pool at the Petrotrin Beach Camp Sporting Club facilities, Santa Flora, early on Saturday morning. Our information is that Adrian, the son of Acting Inspector Glenn Sylvester, drowned while attending a public fete hosted by CB Promotions. At around 3.30 am, some persons attending the party spotted Adrian’s body at the bottom of the pool. After he was fished out, emergency attempts were made to resuscitate him, but they proved futile. We expect that the Police will make a thorough investigation into the strange circumstances of Adrian’s death and that an autopsy will be conducted to determine exactly how the teenager died and an inquest will follow some time later.

On the face of these facts, we find it bizarre that an apparently strong, able-bodied teenager could drown in a swimming pool while there were people at the poolside enjoying themselves at a party. Did he fall in by accident? And if he did, didn’t he make a splash? Didn’t he not get in a panic and shout for help? Were there other persons in the pool who could have assisted him? How could no one in this party detect that he was in trouble until it was too late? Something seems terribly wrong here. Adrian’s father told Newsday that, after hearing about his son’s death, he went down to the pool to find out what had happened. He said: “From what I am hearing there were no lifeguards on duty,” adding that his son was not competent swimmer. Can this be really true? If it is, then it seems to us an act of gross irresponsibility for anyone to organise a public fete around a swimming pool and not take measures to ensure the safety of patrons by having life guards on duty. What makes Adrian’s drowning even more disturbing is the fact that a number of youngsters have met their deaths in similar circumstances within recent times.

On Monday August 4, Dwight Alvarez, 17-year-old son of police corporal Matthew Alvarez drowned at the Petrotrin Staff Club pool at Pointe-a-Pierre. About five years ago, the body of eleven-year-old Akiel Chambers was fished out of the back yard swimming pool at the Haleland Park residence of businessman Charles James during a birthday party. The circumstances surrounding the death of Chambers, however, seem particularly suspicious, indicating that foul play may well be involved. The little boy’s body was discovered lying in the pool in a crouched position and a post mortem examination subsequently revealed there was spermatozoa in his rectum. We sincerely hope that our criminal justice system will be equal to the task of solving these swimming pool mysteries so that any criminal activity would be exposed and the perpetrators get what they deserve. However, it is important in the interest of general safety, including the safety of members of the public, to call on persons holding parties and fetes around swimming pools or even at private homes having such pools to take every measure to ensure that no one’s life can be imperilled while attending such functions. We believe that the number of swimmers in our population is in the minority and, therefore, proper safety precautions must be taken, including having life guards on duty.