“She didn’t have her floaties on and her parents weren’t watching. I saved her. I dashed and I pushed off the wall with my feet and went down and got her.”

A witness said Riley appeared on the surface with the child in her arms, declaring “I’ve got the baby!” She returned the child to her parents who were visiting from out of town.

Riley, who will be six next week, isn’t sure what she wants for her birthday. But if I was that toddler’s mother, I’d buy her a pony. Or two!

But a new study suggests that swimming lessons for kids of all ages can help prevent drowning. Researchers looked at child deaths by drowning over a two-year period, comparing the victims’ experience with swimming against other children the same age in their locations. According to lead author Dr. Ruth A. Brenner, the data indicated that swimming lessons did decrease the risk of drowning among young children (though the study adds the standard caution that even good swimmers can drown).

Does this mean you should ever let your young kids run around near an ungated pool, or leave them to swim unsupervised? Hell no. But does it mean that early exposure to water and swimming are not just a fun warm-weather activity but can also provide valuable skills that may help them in the future? Yes. Now if only I could find a mum-friendly swimsuit…

Today, tragic new details have emerged of what happened that night in Tathra, on the far south coast of NSW.

It was twilight on Tuesday, probably a little after 8pm, when the boys fell from the unfenced wharf their father Shane O’ Neill was fishing from. Witnesses believe that 4-year-old Riley had been playing on 15-month-old Travis’s pram, causing them both to topple into the sea.

Robert Brown, from Canberra, was also on the wharf. When the boys fell, Mr O’Neill threw himself in after his sons, Mr Brown said.

The night was fast darkening, and 20-knot winds had whipped up a 1.5 metre swell. Mr Brown, a police officer, waited only to strip off his clothes and boots before following them into the sea.

500 metres away, five members of the Tathra Surf Life Saving Club had gathered for a meeting. About 8.22 they received a call that two children and a number of adults needed rescuing.

Within three minutes, lifesavers arrived at the wharf. They found Mr Brown struggling to keep his head above water, grasping onto a booster seat being used as a makeshift float. The two lifesavers helped Mr Brown onto the wharf. But in the darkness they could not see Mr O’Neill and his sons before torchlight showed them floating face down under the wharf.

Lifeguards performed CPR on Mr O’Neill for about 20 minutes until an ambulance arrived. He was pronounced dead.

Locals yesterday described him as a warm, caring father, passionate about fishing and the outdoors. Mitch Creary, his coach at the Bega Roosters football club, said Mr O’Neill and his fiancee Stacey were a “really close, a really good couple”.

I don’t know about you, but this story has had me spontaneously weeping a few times now. Maybe because it’s so close to Christmas, or because the youngest child looks much like my own little boy.

If you would like to help Stacey an appeal has been set up through the Horizon Credit Union branch (NSW South Coast) or by EFT. The account is Shane O’Neill Family Appeal, BSB: 802-124, account number 90058. All funds raised will go towards funeral expenses and other financial burdens.

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Today the inquest heard that Armani had taken no formal swimming lessons. A note had been sent home asking parents to circle whether they were able to swim or not, but it is disputed whether the correct choice had been circled on Armani’s note. Questions have been raised about whether Armani’s parents, who are Lebanese, correctly understood the note. The school no longer sent notes to parents in foreign languages due to a decrease in non-English speaking students.

The court heard that 15 teachers and four teachers’ aides had been supervising the excursion, however, three of the four lifeguards on duty had allegedly been working in the canteen at the time of the incident.

The inquest continues tomorrow. It certainly makes you wonder how safe our kids really are when on school excursions, and is a sober reminder of the importance of swimming lessons for all children.

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