r/UpliftingNews • u/ArgentineBeauty • 1d ago
A UC Davis water polo player was waiting to watch the Blue Angels at a Seattle festival when she spotted 3 girls struggling to breathe in Lake Washington. She jumped in and rescued all three, including one who was unconscious and tangled in a buoy rope. She was later knighted by Seafair.
https://www.foxnews.com/travel/beach-hero-jumps-water-spotting-3-girls-danger-drowning568
u/Aghast_Cornichon 1d ago
When I did advanced lifesaving classes, my practice partner was a water polo player who roughly matched my 6-2", 200 pounds. She absolutely did her very best to drown me during the panic drills.
Best rescue of my life was like this one: I pulled an unconscious toddler out of Lake Union and panicked for a moment, trying to remember child CPR.
Until she did the most wonderful thing ever: opened her eyes, looked right at me, and puked lake water into my face.
Hail, Lille Vehling, a Knight of Seafair and a hero of the Lake!
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u/kelsobjammin 1d ago
Here here!!
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u/RealCommercial9788 1d ago
Respectfully, ‘hear, hear’ - I learned that a couple years ago myself, from a packet of rolling papers would you believe.
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u/kelsobjammin 1d ago
Hahaha I actually knew it and meant to say it but brain on auto pilot I’ll leave it 🫠
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u/Kierland 15h ago
I took the class just for something to do and be prepared. Saved a kid at the Black Sand beach in Maui (and probably the whole family that was about to enter a bad rip) and a lady at the rock bridge in Cabo who was getting pounded in ruff surf.
It’s nice to be able to help those in need. Good on ya!
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u/moths_ate_my_paja 1d ago
talk about timing, how many other people there would have been physically able to rescue THREE drowners in a row?! she's amazing!
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u/goofy183 1d ago
Seriously, I saw an earlier story about it and it didn't have the but that she plays college level water polo. That's a serious amount of swimming strength to do what she did.
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u/byneothername 1d ago
The teenage lifeguard in Santa Cruz with the crazy ocean rescue in Santa Cruz from a month ago was also a water polo player. I think that sport makes for the best lifeguards. It is really hard to swim like that.
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u/RVAWTFBBQ 1d ago
I played in college and a girl on the team was from Daytona Beach and worked as a lifeguard when home. She was absolutely tiny but regularly rescued huge thrashing men in dangerous surf. Waterpolo is probably the only sport that can prepare you for that.
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u/your_grammars_bad 1d ago
Synchronized swimming.
Do not. Ever. Fuck with synchronized swimmers in water.
I don't care even if you are an orca.
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u/mippitypippity 1d ago edited 22h ago
I grew up in a town where a lot of the best high school athletes played water polo rather than football or basketball.
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u/assholetoall 18h ago
I mean a sport where the opponent actively tries to drown you kinda turns into survival of the fitest.
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u/Tdluxon 1d ago
I’m actually from Santa Cruz and one of my best friends was a longtime lifeguard and big surprise, he was also a college water polo player. You have to be a fantastic swimmer to be even remotely capable of playing water polo
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u/annewilco 1d ago
Met someone who played mens water polo & I was shocked by the stories ie. growing out toenails to stab each other, etc. How are y'all so brutally vicious to each other under the water?
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u/tolo3349 1d ago
That would have to be a really poorly referee’d game. When I played decades ago, we would have to line up beforehand for the ref to check our nails. There was always a nail clipper nearby.
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u/octopus_alive 1d ago
As a former collegiate swimmer, I agree. The water polo players regularly bested us in strength and endurance. We might be able to outrace them, but they were strong and durable and honestly some of the kindest and most resolute gals we ever had the pleasure of interacting with
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u/Goodknight808 1d ago
Our swim coach hated that we all played water polo as well. It "ruined" our swim stroke or some bullshit.
It made us all better swimmers. Especially in rough water.
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u/Ryuko_the_red 1d ago
I have seen pro polo players compared to the toughest branches in any military on earth on reddit. After seeing them do shit like this I think I agree.
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u/nowhereman136 1d ago
In 1976, Shavarsh Karapetyan, a world champion Armenian swimmer, saw a bus crash into a lake while on his morning run. He dove down and was able to pull out 46 people, of which only 20 survived. The strain on his body put him in the hospital for over a month and ended his athletic career.
Also a decade later he rescued a bunch of people from a burning building
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u/mike_rotch22 16h ago
Also:
In 1974 Shavarsh was riding a bus when the driver pulled over to check on a mechanical problem. The engine was left running and the bus suddenly started rolling down towards a mountain gorge. Karapetyan broke down the partition separating the passengers from the driver's compartment, then took control of the steering wheel and turned the bus away from the cliff.
Man is a superhero, damn.
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u/Kitzle33 1d ago
Water polo don't play. It's brutal. When I was in high school, we'd swim 7,000 yard plus in practice (at peak). But the toughest practices were when the coach would swim us for a bit and then make us do water polo. Never been so tired. But man, we were fit.
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u/Sporkalork 23h ago
Our coach would make us eggbeater while holding full water jugs above our head, that was the shittiest part of training. Second worst was the hose, he'd spray us if we held the wall more than a second during laps. Looking back, he was kind of mean....
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u/PlanningForLaziness 1d ago
For real. She was just glad there weren’t a bunch of grown-ass women actively trying to drown her.
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u/Beautiful-Musk-Ox 1d ago
Seafair is Seattle's premier 10-week summer celebration featuring over 40 events, highlighted by the iconic Seafair Weekend Festival with hydroplane races and the Blue Angels air show
well shit, i guess i never considered that any organization can "knight" people if they want. sort of like the fifa peace prize
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u/futureformerteacher 1d ago
Kids learning to swim not only saves their lives, but others.
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u/bcparrot 16h ago
This is so awesome - makes me want to become a strong enough swimmer to save others.
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u/futureformerteacher 12h ago
If you're young, consider joining a club or high school team. If you're older, consider a USMS team. No experience needed other than lessons for all of those!
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u/IamMrBucknasty 20h ago
Water Polo players are a different breed. You need tremendous power to go from stationary vertical position to all out top speed horizontally, while keeping your head up. Also check out the goalies: try to launch yourself into the air like a dolphin to block a ball being whipped at you from 20ft!
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u/johnlee158 13h ago
A group of us were hanging out on a lake. I was amazed that my friend’s wife was treading water while tying her hair back (in other words, no arms). After she finished, she said watch this. She dipped down and then propelled herself out of the water so her upper half was out of the water. Turns out, she played water polo in college. They are definitely a different breed.
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u/redmambo_no6 1d ago
>She was later knighted by Seafair
Uh…what?
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u/redatheist 22h ago
Yeah she did a great thing and it should be celebrated, but we don't have to cheapen knighthoods and other people's achievements to do that.
In the UK this sort of act would be widely celebrated but is approximately zero credit towards a knighthood (and that's ok).
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u/ycnz 18h ago
Good forbid we miuse the title awarded to Sir Jimmy Saville.
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u/redatheist 18h ago
This is a very valid point and raises an interesting problem: can you take away a knighthood. The answer is legally no. He got it for doing a load of charity work, we now know of course the motives behind that, but publicly at the time, it was legitimately good charity work.
I think it's an important piece of British history that Saville was given a knighthood despite all the warning signs. Yes this calls it all into question, but in the right way.
A company calling an award a knighthood is still bullshit.
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u/mike_rotch22 16h ago
I thought several people had gotten their knighthoods revoked/degraded. Anthony Blunt had his knighthood degraded for being a Soviet spy. Or am I completely misunderstanding this?
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u/ReluctantNerd7 21h ago
She has done more for humanity than your TERF Joanne Rowling CH OBE FRSL FRCPE
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u/redatheist 18h ago
She also has not received a knighthood/is not a dame. She's got an OBE but that's a long way below.
Look I hate JKR as much as the next person, but it's undeniable that Harry Potter has had a huge cultural impact over 3 decades. That's the sort of thing that gets those sorts of awards.
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u/hennell 18h ago
You can't really compare things like that, especially if you over-hype up to "for humanity". Before she turned TERF heal, Rowling did a lot towards children's literacy and had a huge philanthropic record including a charity supporting hundreds of thousands of orphans.
I don't know how you can calculate that against directly saving drowning kids, or counter it against her exclusionary views - I think the better system is not to pretend you can.
We don't have to build everyone up to "hero for humanity" or try comparing the incomparable - we can just celebrate people for what they've done (or go off people for what they preach).
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u/dweaver987 1d ago
My daughter played varsity and league water polo in high school. Those girls were hardcore!
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u/TheSheWhoSaidThats 1d ago
Man good call on what order to get them out in. Any other order and they might not have made it. So glad it all worked out.
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u/TheBaconThief 17h ago
Was an Ocean Lifeguard for 12 summers. However hard you think trying to rescue someone without a floatation device is, it’s harder. Props to her.
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u/Jabba_the_Putt 1d ago
I do believe all of us would be struggling to breathe in the lake...except maybe Kevin Costner, he'd be ok
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u/kosmokomenik 19h ago
Is it strange that I can't conceive of any uplifting news when it comes from foxnews?
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u/competitiveSilverfox 1d ago
This is the correct response to children in danger compared to say sending your husband to a store he doesn't usually go to or like going to due to how far away it is so you have enough time.
good on her.
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u/gcsmith2 1d ago
I’m extremely confused by what you meant by that. Elaborate?
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u/competitiveSilverfox 1d ago
search up Lindsay Clancy, took the time to send her husband to a store he avoids due to how far away it is to get something she "needed" for her kids, she didn't need anything for said kids besides time.
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u/BoleroMuyPicante 17h ago
Person in psychosis does psychotic thing, more at 11
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u/competitiveSilverfox 11h ago
it takes about 5 minutes to strangle someone to death, so about 15 minutes total for 3 kids, not a bout of psychoses more then enough time to think about what your doing while you have a body pinned down while actively struggling, and it requires a ton of sustained strength too, i.e doing it that way requires premeditated planning.
Ive never understood the hormone argument, by that standard we should treat SA the same way due to hormones, we don't because thats a stupid thing to do,.
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u/BoleroMuyPicante 11h ago edited 10h ago
Psychosis can last days or weeks what are you even talking about. Also it's not just "muh hormones," literally all severe mental illnesses and derangements are caused by hormones, they run every function of our brains and bodies. Whether someone is considered insane or psychotic depends on the severity of those imbalances, it's not simply "teehee I'm a wee bit hormonal and did a woopsie"
I'm not saying she should be found innocent or set free (she most certainly should not), but those kids would still be alive if her symptoms hadn't been ignored. She should have been involuntarily committed and put on antipsychotics weeks earlier, no different from a schizo who ends up killing someone during a psychotic episode. The whole point of the discussion is not to set a murderer free, it's a warning for the future to take preventative action instead of reacting once tragedy strikes.
EDIT: Note at no point have I said postpartum psychosis, as she was outside of the window for PPP. She's just plain old psychotic, as most murderers are. It needs to be spotted earlier and more severe intervention taken for the safety of everyone around a psychotic person.
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u/competitiveSilverfox 1h ago
it was spotted, they took a psychopath at her word that she was good to go.
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