Teen Drowns During Water Polo Practice

SPRINGVILLE, Utah – City officials have confirmed that a 14-year-old boy has died after going underwater during practice for the Springville City water polo team.

Patrick Monney, Director of Administrative Services for Springville City, said the drowning happened between 5:30-6:00 p.m. on Monday at the Springville recreation center.

When the boy, a 2nd year water polo player, went underwater, others weren’t worried at first, according to Monney.

“(It’s) not uncommon for water polo kids to go under and sit at the bottom of the pool for a few moments, so nobody was too alarmed,” he said.

After about a minute, Monney said, people started to worry and went down to check on him. The coach then jumped in and brought him out of the water to perform CPR. Money said an ambulance arrived about six minutes later and he was taken to Spanish Fork and later was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

The boy passed away later that evening, according to Monney. His identity has not been released and the family has asked for privacy.

“From the moment he was brought up our lifeguards, our staff, the paramedics, everyone that was involved – it was just amazing,” Monney said. “They worked diligently and quickly and there was never a moment where anyone was standing around. If there’s anything even somewhat positive about this it was to see how everyone responded in a true emergency.”

Monney said grief counseling is available for the staff members that witnessed the tragedy or were involved that day. Money called the drowning “a true tragedy.”