Triathlete rescues three boys from drowning
Australian triathelte Silvia Hajas used her open water swimming skills to rescue three young boys from drowning as a strong current dragged them further from the shoreline.
A triathlete has rescued three young school boys from drowning in the waters off East Coast Park, Singapore, in the country’s southeastern coastal region.
According to several reports, Silvia Hajas, 47, was with her eight-year-old daughter at the park on Monday when she spotted a group of seven young boys swimming about 50 metres from the shoreline. She heard some cries for help and saw that the current was pulling them further into the sea, and dove in to rescue them.
Hajas was able to rescue three of the boys, while another three safely made it back to shore themselves. One boy’s body was later recovered by the Singapore Civil Defense Force rescue team who was called to action after a couple on the beach spotted the incident and called the police for help.
“I swam out to the closest boy and helped him to get out. And then I turned around and went out again to pull in another,” she recalled, adding that she could not touch the ground where the boys were at. “I was very tired at this stage – the sea was very choppy and the waves were strong.”
“We kept looking in the horizon and looking out for the fourth boy, but he never came back up and we never saw him again,” she said.
Hajas is an Australian national who has lived in Singapore for seven years. She is a strong open water swimmer thanks to her participation in many triathlons. She added that the boys did not seem to be strong swimmers or know how to tread water.
