'Tragic' pool death 'should never have happened'

This tragic and untimely death should never have happened.

Members of the public visiting leisure centre swimming pools have an entitlement to expect that the operator paid to run them will deploy and train its staff so as to provide sufficient numbers of life guards in the right places so as to operate the pool safely.

In this case, Michelle Gellard was robbed of her chances of rescue and survival by Leisure Connection's failures.

Evidence emerged in the course on the investigation that Leisure Connection failed to identify and address the fact that the amount of lifeguarding it was paying its staff to provide at Blackwater Leisure Centre was noticeably less than the amount it knew was required for full and safe operation of the pool.