The year started well last week for two young Montreal swimmers who narrowly avoided tragedy by saving a Briton from drowning while his helpless wife cried.
“We didn’t know how much time we had left. So we immediately [jetées à l’eau]” Zoe Meklensek-Ireland, 13, and Emma Bassermann, 14, told Barbados Today.
On Wednesday, the two teenagers, who were at a training camp for the Barbados Olympics in the Caribbean, were about to ride their final wave on small boards called “bodyboards” when they reportedly heard noises. Cries for help from a woman whose husband was having difficulty returning to the bank.
“I can swim, but I wasn't making any progress at all. I didn't want to go anywhere,” South London resident Robert Stone and his wife Belinda told CTV News on Saturday.
Without wasting a second, the two young swimmers plunged into the water with their boards in hand to rescue the man in distress, having previously brought his wife to safety.
“We put her husband on the bodyboard, I attached the strap to my ankle and took him to shore, where I swam parallel to the beach until the current was no longer as strong,” she said. continued Zoe Meklensek-Ireland, whose father is a coach at Dorval Swimming Club.
“He was having difficulty breathing, so we heard the first words out of his mouth when he hit the sand […] If we had been weaker swimmers it could have been much more disastrous,” added Emma Bassermann, who trains 21 hours a week and is aiming for the 2028 Olympics.
As soon as they returned to land, the two young girls were celebrated for their heroic gesture.
“I really feel like we have a good guardian angel watching over us,” said a grateful Belinda, looking at her husband. “Maybe a [ange] Canadian,” he again added to CTV News.