Whakatāne District Council reported last week's near drowning of a nine-year-old boy to Worksafe New Zealand but the Government health and safety regulator will not be investigating.

The boy, who was saved from drowning by a 14-year-old boy and his younger sister at the Whakatāne Aquatic Centre on Wednesday last week, was discharged from hospital the same week.

At the time, Bay of Plenty District Health Board media and communications officer Stephanie Baird said the boy was recovering well.

The council's community experience general manager, Georgina Fletcher, says the incident occurred when the swimmer hit his head upon entering the pool.

He was pulled to the surface by another swimmer and was attended to by staff and patrons poolside until emergency services arrived.

Fletcher says she, along with the Aquatic Centre staff, are grateful the young swimmer is recovering well and praises those whose actions helped him.

However, she does not agree with the account the young heroes gave with regards to the lifeguard in the Beacon's story last week.

The boy who pulled the unconscious child from the water said the one lifeguard at the 33-metre outdoor pool had been sitting down at the other end of the pool.

'As part of the internal investigation into the incident, CCTV footage was reviewed. The recording does not support the recollection shared with the reporter.”

She says the council notified Worksafe NZ of the incident, as is standard practice in these situations, and that Worksafe NZ had confirmed it would not be carrying out an investigation.

At the time of publishing, Worksafe had not responded to inquiries as to why it chose not to investigate the incident.

- Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air