Belvoir hero risks her life to save best friend

Ilga Walsh and Lucia Giordano share a love of life and new adventures by nature. They have birthdays a day apart, used to work together at the Officers' Club and have daughters who are friends. So, when the women were at the Fort Belvoir Marina one evening when an impromptu boat ride to enjoy an evening swim in the Potomac was seemingly routine, it turned into a very dramatic, near-death experience that both are grateful they are here to talk about.

"The weather was beautiful and the air was warm, the water temperature was nice and we both decided to swim. It was a spur-of-the-moment spontaneous act. I was already in my suit and Ilga was changing when I dove in," said Giordano.

Giordano is a strong swimmer; having once been a pool lifeguard. She had also been swimming in a shallow portion of the Potomac near the Wilson Bridge as a youth and did not think twice about diving in. As she swam, she did not know she was swimming with the current, and, at high tide, the water was moving at four knots.

When she surfaced more than 100 feet from the boat, the boat owner shouted to her; Lucia stop swimming! You are swimming with the current. You are going to have to swim back to us. It was at this time that fear started to creep over Lucia as she was moving slowly further and further from the boat, despite her best efforts to swim.

"I yelled to them 'stop moving'. They yelled back that they weren't moving that I was being taken out with the tide. It was pitch dark and I couldn't see anything but the Officers' Club more than 100 yards away. I was starting to really tense up, feel a sense of despair and began to panic," said Giordano.

At this point, Walsh emerged on deck looking for Lucia and saw her in the distance and in trouble. Walsh told the fellow boaters to watch her swimming path so they could follow before she dove in. "Lucia was yelling 'help, help' at that point, so I did not hesitate; you don't have time to grab a ring or life jacket. It's a split second decision, I may not have been the strongest swimmer or most experienced on the boat, but I was the only one who was ready and knew there was no time to lose," said Walsh.

Walsh realized when she reached Giordano that she had been treading for 15 minutes and recognized her exhaustion. She tried to buoy Giordano up by holding her and get her to relax. Several times she went under the water in an effort to boost her up and get some momentum to stay afloat. It was at this point that Giordano became frightened that Walsh was not going to make it and told her friend to save herself because she had children.

Walsh looked Giordano in the eyes and said, "Don't you give up on me, don't you dare give up on me, you have children, too! I then ordered her to hold onto my straps and I began to swim in the direction of the boat." It was Walsh's intensity and the strength in her voice that made Giordano comply. By then, the lights on the boat where aimed at them, the anchor was pulled up and the engine was started as they began to make their way back. "I would not have made it, had she not came and saved me. I could not fight the water any longer. It could have been the end for both of us," said Giordano.

Walsh, who states she is a casual swimmer credits her father for teaching her how to swim off Long Island, N.Y. as a child and a summer of lifeguard training for her ability to rescue Giordano. "I am not a risk-taker, usually I use the buddy system and grab a rope and float before going in. I am familiar enough to know that any body of water has to be respected, these waters will take you in and pull you under and they will never find you," said Walsh.

Giordano has a new appreciation of the situations she could possibly find herself in and urges caution and states people need to be more discerning and knowledgeable about the possibility of getting in a dangerous situation. "We need to stress water safety year round, even if you are an experienced swimmer. This was a new experience for me and I wasn't aware of the current. I am glad to have a friend that risked her life and saved me.

I have five children who could have lost their mother that day. Thank you Ilga Walsh. She deserves a medal," said Giordano.