Woman drowns while cleaning backyard pool

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – A 50-year-old Jacksonville woman drowned while cleaning her backyard swimming pool.

Steve Cox tells The Florida Times-Union his wife Angela was alone while vacuuming the pool last Thursday. Their 15-year-old daughter who had been watching television inside found her mother at the bottom of the pool.

Cox says his wife was an avid scuba diver. But she wasn’t wearing any diving gear while cleaning the pool, which they do once a week. Cox says they often stayed at the bottom of the 9-foot deep end without oxygen to increase their lung capacity for future dives.

Cox says their 13-year-old son started CPR on his mother but was unable to revive her.

He says his wife recently participated in 30 dives over a two-week trip to the Florida Keys.