A MOTHER has spoken of the heart-stopping moment her toddler son was forced to put his swimming lessons into practice when he disappeared underneath a pedalo at sea.

Two-year-old Noah Griffiths of Darlington was enjoying the ride during a family holiday to Malaga when the pedalo overturned and trapped him underneath.

Thankfully Noah, who was with his father Ryan and other family members, was wearing a lifejacket which kept him afloat but the pedalo temporarily forced him underwater.

Noah's mum, Katy who is 28-weeks pregnant, was watching from the beach and said witnessing the pedalo overturn onto her young son was "the most frightening thing she had ever seen".

However, Noah remained calm and put his lessons learnt in swimming class into practice.

“I expected Noah to be scared and crying, but he was the total opposite, he was just telling me that the boat fell over and that he went underwater.

“In fact the only time he cried was when the lifeguard pulled him onto the rescue boat and that was because it was a stranger!”

She attributes Noah’s calm reaction to the Water Babies lessons he attends in Darlington.

“He had learned how and when to hold his breath and he wasn’t frightened, which I’m sure is down to his lessons on underwater swimming with Water Babies.

“He even asked to go back in the water about five minutes after the incident!

“Noah would never have been so confident in this situation without his swimming lessons, we will definitely be signing up our second child too.”

Penny Gordon, who runs Water Babies classes in Darlington, believes it is vital to encourage children to respect water from as early an age as possible.

She said: “With progressive training, babies can be taught lifesaving skills such as turning on their backs or, following sudden submersion, swimming to the nearest solid object.

“Over the last few years a dozen of our pupils have saved themselves from drowning, some of whom were also just two-years-old.”