Boy, 2, Drowns During Swim Center Lesson

A 2-year-old boy was in a private lesson, one-on-one with an instructor, when he drowned at a City of Industry swim center earlier this week, a center manager said Friday.

Both the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the center were investigating the Monday drowning of Frank Brady.

Jerry Ferrin, manager of recreation facilities at Industry Hills Recreation & Conference Center, said the child, who had had previous swim lessons, was in a refresher class with a certified instructor when he began having trouble breathing.

When it became clear something was wrong with the child, the instructor pulled him from the pool and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation until an ambulance arrived, Ferrin said.

The boy was taken to Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina. An autopsy report from the Los Angeles County coroner’s office listed the cause of death as accidental drowning, coroner’s spokesman Robert Dambacher said.

At the time of the accident, three lifeguards were on duty at the pool, Ferrin said. He said the instructor is also a certified lifeguard.

“We’re at a loss. I have no idea” how the boy could have died, Ferrin said, adding that the drowning is the first in the pool’s 10-year history.

Kathleen Morningstar, acting general manager of the facility, said the center’s investigation should be completed by Tuesday.

The facility management, the Sheriff’s Department and the swim center declined to identify the boy’s parents until the investigation is concluded. When reached by The Times, Gloria Brady of Hacienda Heights, the child’s grandmother, said that the family was too upset to talk about the death.