Family files lawsuit in
Manoa pool drowning

By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin

The family of a dead man filed a Circuit Court lawsuit yesterday against the city and two lifeguards for negligence in failing to prevent his drowning while he held his breath underwater.

The lawsuit alleges that Sarp Mustafa Kayan went to the Manoa Recreation Center swimming pool March 26 and told lifeguard Jacie Moriyama that he was training for competition. He said he would be attempting to hold his breath underwater for up to five minutes.

The lawsuit says Kayan then jumped in the pool with a wet suit and weight belt and went under.

The lawsuit alleges that Moriyama and another lifeguard, Jason Bringas, sat under a shade canopy at one end of the pool and ignored Kayan for the next 40-45 minutes. After two other swimmers told them that a man had been underwater for a long time, Bringas checked Kayan and brought him to the surface. That caused Kayan's atmospherically sensitive watch to stop, indicating Kayan had been under the surface more than 55 minutes.

Kayan could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at Straub Hospital due to drowning, the lawsuit said. It asks for unspecified damages.