A 20-year-old university student died after being swept away by an underwater vortex while diving off the south coast of England, an inquest has heard.
Emily Sherwin, a marine conservation student at the University of Plymouth, was diving near Old Harry Rocks, close to Swanage in Dorset, when she became separated from her dive buddy and failed to resurface. Despite a large-scale air and sea search, her body was never recovered.
The incident occurred on 23 July 2023, the day after Emily’s 20th birthday. She had been invited on the dive by her friend, Beth Pryor, and the pair joined a crew travelling from Poole Quay to the popular diving location.
At around 5.50pm, the two entered the water. Pryor told the inquest, held in Bournemouth, that at a depth of approximately seven metres, they encountered an underwater vortex. “We both went down below the surface and we were horizontal facing each other and we were holding each other’s arms,” she said in a statement.
Pryor said she signalled to Emily several times to ascend and indicated that something was wrong. “At this point we got caught in a vortex and started to spin around. I wasn’t able to check my dive computer due to the spinning. I just felt disorientated.”
Visibility was limited to around one metre. Pryor said Emily appeared to be vertical in the water and sinking, with her regulator no longer in her mouth. Pryor attempted to reach her but was unable to. After hitting the seabed and losing sight of Emily, Pryor ascended and alerted the boat’s skipper, who issued a mayday call. Rescue services, including a helicopter, responded to the emergency.
Emily had recently completed her first year at university and was planning a third-year placement in the Pacific. She lived with her parents, Charles and Ellen Sherwin, near Poole Harbour. Her mother told the inquest that Emily was “fit and healthy”, loved the natural world, and had developed a deep passion for diving, which she had started earlier that year.
“She described it as her safe space,” Ellen Sherwin said. “She had loved her first year at university and was looking forward to returning to move in with her friends in September.”
Coroner Richard Middleton recorded a narrative conclusion, stating that while it was likely Emily became caught in a vortex during the dive, the exact cause of her death could not be determined.
