A frail pensioner may not have drowned if his health club had posted lifeguards at their swimming pool, a sheriff has ruled.
Michael McDonald, 73, was spotted lying motionless at the bottom of the pool at the Livingwell Health Club in Earl Grey Place, Dundee.
Despite the efforts of an employee, who dived into the water fully clothed to rescue him, the Parkinsons sufferer died a few hours later.
Following a fatal accident inquiry, Sheriff Lorna Drummond has ruled that a “reasonable precaution” to prevent the death was constant pool supervision.
The fact that lifeguards were not on duty at the pool was something Dundee City Council should have picked up earlier, said the sheriff.
Mr McDonald, from Newport, had been a daily visitor to the leisure complex, which has now been demolished along with the adjoining Hilton Hotel.
The inquiry heard that the pensioner had been using the gym before the early morning accident, something he rarely did, in November 2011.
Manager Jennifer Newcombe told how she dived into the water when she spotted Mr McDonald under the water from the reception desk nearby.
She breathed into his mouth and performed CPR techniques until she got him breathing again but Mr McDonald never regained consciousness and died four hours later at the city’s Ninewells Hospital.
The sheriff said that his death might have been avoided if Livingwell had the pool under constant supervision.
She said lifeguards operate a ‘20:10’ scan of the pool, where their eyes move along the water for 10 seconds, giving them 20 seconds to reach anyone in difficulty.
Sheriff Drummond said: “It seems to me that, whilst there can be no certainty, there is a real and lively possibility that a lifeguard on constant watch conducting a 20:10 scan of the pool might have been able to spot and reach Mr McDonald sooner than Mrs Newcombe was able to reach him and within those first two minutes.
“I therefore conclude the presence of a lifeguard on constant poolside super-vision might have avoided the death.”
A spokesperson from Hilton Worldwide said: “The wellbeing, safety and security of our guests is of paramount importance and we are confident that there were no defects in our pool supervision procedures at the time of the incident.
“We were at the time and continue to be, fully compliant with UK safety legislation and industry guidance.”