‘The reality is that accidents happen quickly and quietly.'

Perth Now

02-07-2025

Artificial intelligence monitoring a public pool has triggered a potentially lifesaving alert as a swimmer began to sink, unconscious, to the bottom of the water.
The incident was caught on camera at Stirling Leisure in the northern Perth suburb of Inglewood, with the AI detecting the medical emergency immediately.
Lifeguards were sent an urgent alert at the same time fellow swimmer Ofer Lefelman noticed something was wrong.
'When I realised he's in distress, I dove down, picked him up, put him on my shoulder, made sure his head was above the water,' he told 7NEWS.
Lifeguards then helped get the struggling swimmer to the water's edge, where further help was waiting.
'They were very quick, very fast, they grabbed all the gear we needed,' lifeguard Cameron told 7NEWS.
He believed it would have been 'a lot more stressful if I didn't have that initial alert'.
'That precious amount of seconds with the watch possibly saved him,' he said.
The Lynxight system is a critical set of eyes operated by the City of Stirling to keep watch over the pool and swimmers.
It is able to pinpoint a person in distress and send an alert via a smart watch with an exact GPS co-ordination.
Lynxight can connect to standard security cameras, detect unusual water movement and track multiple swimmers at once. The Lynxight pool monitoring system triggered a potentially lifesaving alert at a pool in Perth. Credit: 7NEWS
More than 300 people drown in Australia every year, and there were six drowning deaths and 8000 rescues at public pools in 2023 alone, Royal Life Saving Australia research shows.
The AI technology is also used at Gould Adams Park Aquatic Centre in Queensland but it is hoped it will be rolled out at more pools across the country and help to save more lives.
Royal Life Saving Society WA chief executive Peter Leaversuch said lifeguards have a challenging job watching lots of people in the water.
'The reality is that accidents happen quickly and quietly,' he said.
'To have a bit of technology that's watching is really powerful for not only the public but also the lifeguards.'