Belinda said the couple, who live in London, are both relatively good swimmers and were “absolutely confident” they were in the water.
But they didn’t take into account how strong the current was on that particular day, January 3rd. Although they had visited Barbados several times, they had no idea that the particular area they washed up in was known for its strong rip currents.
The couple noticed they were floating in the direction of a neighboring beach, so Belinda decided to swim against the current towards the beach they had come from.
She soon realized that her husband was following her. And then she suddenly became too far away to even hear her husband’s voice. She tried to swim to shore for help, but she struggled to overcome the current.
Belinda, 64, said she “couldn’t go anywhere” and began screaming for lifeguards. After several minutes, no one came and her mind wandered to her worst case scenario. ‘I wish I had left her suicide note on the dining room table,’ she thought to herself, and cried out again.
Two teenage girls, Emma Basserman, 14, and Zoe Ireland-Meklensek, 13, were riding boogie boards near the shore. Zoe spotted Belinda about 85 feet away and heard her cries for help. The two girls, both of whom live in Montreal, swam toward her.
They quickly contacted Belinda and Zoe helped pull her onto the boogie board. Belinda was exhausted from fighting her current and worried about her husband.
“She said her husband was further away and was having trouble swimming,” Zoe recalled. “I told her to stay strong and tied the straps of her boogie board to her wrists. Her girlfriend Emma was by her side to support her.”
The girls swam parallel to the shore and brought Belinda to safety. Belinda, grateful but still horrified, reiterated that her husband was stranded further out at sea. She asked for a lifeguard.
The girls told her there were no guards and reassured her that they would pick him up.
“The mother in me started to stir,” Belinda recalls.
she told them: you are too small ”
Belinda said there were some adults on the beach, but the girls were the only ones at the water’s edge.
Zoe said they were in Barbados as part of a swim camp and claimed they both had experience playing in the water. Before Belinda could say anything more, they swam away to catch Robert. Robert was about 40 meters from shore. They brought boogie boards.
A few minutes later, Zoe and Emma contacted Robert, 68.
“He was in shock and really out of breath. You could tell he was really stressed out,” Zoe said, tying a tether to his ankle and telling Robert to hold on to the boogie board. urged.
“I reassured my wife that she was going to be okay and that he was going to be okay,” Zoe said.
As they pulled Belinda ashore, Emma kept an eye on Belinda, who was waiting on the beach.
During the swim, “the current kept pulling me back, but I kept going back and forth,” Zoe said, adding that although she only swam for a few minutes, the rapids were tiring her. added.
“The two of us made a really good team together,” Emma said.
When the girls and Robert reached the shore, Belinda was filled with relief.
“What really sticks with me is the gentleness of those children,” Belinda said. “I don’t think there are many girls like Zoe and Emma. I just can’t understand how calm and collected they both were.”
“What an example for others,” she continued. “They were wonderful and very modest.”
Zoe and Emma said they acted on instinct. Emma’s hobby is swimming and she was on a 10-day training trip to Barbados, while Zoe used to swim until last year, but she is now concentrating on basketball. They were there with Zoe’s father, Chuck Mecklensek, Emma’s swimming coach.
“I’m so grateful that they’re both safe,” said Emma, who is currently training for the Canadian Summer Olympic Swimming Team Trials in May.
Meklensek said she was glad the girls came to help.
“We’re really proud, but even more impressed,” he said, noting he was surprised they managed to draw in the men.
For the rest of the trip, the teens were treated like celebrities on the island. A local youth group presented them with awards and gift baskets containing shirts, water bottles, keychains and other trinkets. I was also interviewed by a local newspaper. Barbados today.
The girls — both plan on getting lifeguard certifications. when they turn 15, minimum age — hopes their story will inspire people, especially those who swim on Barbados’ beaches, to learn how to swim and develop water safety skills. This island is known for: dangerous torrent – especially in certain areas Along the east coast. The strong current is drowned people.
“Emma and I hope the word gets out that swimming is important,” Zoe said.
The Stone family said they learned a lesson about swimming when there are strong currents and are forever grateful to the girls.
“They really looked like an angelic couple on that beach,” Belinda said.