A car plunged into a public swimming pool in New Canaan, Connecticut, on Tuesday morning, in a startling scene that town officials say could have been far worse. The incident unfolded at around 10:30, and by a stroke of good fortune the pool happened to be closed at the time, meaning there were no swimmers in the water when the vehicle came crashing in.
According to the account of what happened, the car traveled out of the parking lot, pushed through a set of trees and a fence, and ended up in the pool itself. The path it took left little doubt about how unusual the episode was, with the vehicle coming to rest in the water rather than anywhere a car would normally be found.
The response was immediate. A pair of lifeguards who were on hand jumped right into the pool to reach the driver, and police along with a dive team eventually worked to get the person out of the submerged car. To free the driver, crews had to smash one of the car's windows, an indication of how complicated the rescue became once the vehicle was in the water.
The driver was taken to the hospital to be evaluated, but no one was hurt in the incident. For an episode that could easily have ended in tragedy, especially had the pool been open and full of swimmers, the outcome was about as fortunate as it could have been, with everyone involved coming through it safely.
Once the driver was out, the focus turned to clearing the scene. Crews lifted the car, a Tesla, out of the pool, bringing an end to the most dramatic part of the morning. Because of the damage and the need to clean up after the vehicle, officials said the pool would have to be drained and would remain closed for the next day or so.
For local officials, the sight was something genuinely new. Parks and Recreation Director John Howe said he had never seen anything quite like it, noting that while the town deals with plenty of small problems, a car ending up in the pool was in a category of its own. He summed up the morning by saying that, of all the unusual things he had encountered, this one definitely took the cake.