School knew boy was a weak swimmer before camp drowning

A boy whose mother told his school he was a beginner swimmer drowned on an aquatics centre trip. (Brendon Thorne/AAP PHOTOS)

A primary school knew an eight-year-old student was a weak swimmer but failed to inform an aquatics centre before the boy drowned while at camp.

Grade 2 student Cooper Onyett drowned on May 21, 2021, at Belfast Aquatics at Port Fairy in Victoria's southwest while on a trip organised by Merrivale Primary School at Warrnambool.