Two Young Canadian Swimmers Save British Couple from Drowning in Barbados

Two young swimmers from the Dorval Swim Club in Canada are being hailed as heroes this week after helping rescue a British couple stuck in a bad situation while vacationing in Barbados last week.

The story, as told by Barbados Today, has that Zoe Ireland-Meklensek, 13, and Emma Bassermann, 14, were boogie boarding at the Barbados Beach Club in Maxwell, Christ Church, when they heard a faint cry for help from Belinda and Robert Stone, a couple visiting from the UK.

Ireland-Meklensek went to investigate the source of the cry for help and found a Belinda Stone waving her arms and shouting for help.

“So, I immediately went out to see what was the matter, and she said that her husband who was further down, ‘can’t swim and he can’t get back [to shore]’. So, then I brought her to shore by putting her on the boogie board … I pulled her with the strap until she could touch the sand, and then I went back out with Emma, I got the husband on the boogie board, I went along the beach until the current was not so bad, and then I went closer to the shore until he could touch the sand,” Bassermann said.

“He was having a hard time breathing so the first words we heard out of his mouth were when he touched the sand. He was saying thank you and how he wasn’t able to breathe and how the current was very strong.”

“They were talking about how they were terrified and how the wife was thinking about her will,” Meklensek-Ireland recalled in an interview with CTV News. “They were saying how it would have been very different if we weren’t at that place and at that time, so they were so grateful for us.”

The pair were recognized for their heroic actions by the Young Democrats, a wing of the country’s Democratic Labour Party. Tyra Trotman, the president of the Young Democrats, used the opportunity to encourage Barbadians to enroll their children in swimming programs.

“We live on an island, which as we know by its definition is surrounded by water. Not only can the ability to swim save your child’s life but as in this instance, that child can become someone who can save the life of another.

“Although even the greatest swimmers can sometimes get into difficulties, your chances of survival are increased if you have the knowledge and skill to remain calm and tackle the situation without fear and panic,” she said.

The Young Democrats presented the pair with Barbados bags as a token of their appreciation.

A 2020 study of drowning rates across the Commonwealth showed that there were 11 fatal drownings in Barbados in 2017, which ranked the country 7th-fewest among 12 Americas members of the Commonwealth that year, with a rank of 9th when adjusted for population. Barbados drowning rates were about half of Guyana’s, and about 40% lower than other island nations like the Bahamas.

Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, and Canada, all countries that have had major international success in competitive swimming, have the lowest drowning rates among nations included in those studies.

Basserman is an active member of the Dorval swim team in Quebec, qualifying for the 2023 Canadian Championships. There she placed 5th in the 50 breaststroke, 8th in the 100 breaststroke, and 8th in the 200 breaststroke in the 13-14 age group. She says she trains about 21 hours per week.

Ireland-Meklensek hasn’t raced since 2022.

Watch an interview with the young lifesavers, and the couple they saved, here: