At about 2:30 p.m., High Point police responded to a call regarding a possible drowning at the city-operated pool at 1625 E. Washington Drive.
Police said when park rangers arrived on the scene, paramedics were providing CPR to a male victim on the pool deck. The victim was identified as Anthony Hayes, 17. Hayes, a T. Wingate Andrews High School junior, was transported to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he died.
Andrews Principal Rodney Wilds said Sunday the school community is saddened by Hayes’ death. He described the teen as a “good kid.”
Following the accident, Allen Oliver, High Point’s parks and recreation director, said a family member of the teen told the pool’s staff that Hayes couldn’t swim. Oliver said a lifeguard was on the scene, went into the water, noticed Hayes under the water and went in after him.
“We had closed down the diving board,” Oliver said. “The kid was playing in the deep end of the water.”
The pool closed Saturday after the accident and remained closed Sunday. Oliver said it was in the best interest of everyone involved to keep the pool closed for the rest of the weekend. Grief counselors will be available for the pool’s staff today, he said.
“This is my 32nd year in public recreation. This is the first drowning I’ve had to go through,” Oliver said. “I was a lifeguard many years prior to that. From what we have been told, our staff did a great job as far as the training and rescue techniques.”
Oliver said it appears the drowning was accidental. “I don’t see where it can be anything else until we are told otherwise,” he said.
The Washington Terrace Park pool is scheduled to reopen next weekend, Oliver said.
dignasiak@hpe.com | 888-3657
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