A girl rescued from the pool during a public swimming session on Wednesday was progressing well in Dunedin Hospital yesterday, Leanne Mash said.
The girl, who has not been named, was airlifted to Dunedin Hospital from Dunstan Hospital on Wednesday night.
While the girl was swimming at the pool, her mother and brother noticed she was "in some distress'' and rescued her.
Pool staff, helped by an off-duty nurse, carried out CPR until St John ambulance personnel arrived at the scene, Ms Mash said.
The swim centre is a Central Otago District Council facility and Ms Mash said WorkSafe and the New Zealand Recreation Association had been notified about the incident.
A WorkSafe spokeswoman confirmed it was making initial inquiries.
"I have been in contact with the child's father, who was able to share that she is doing well and remains under medical observation,'' Ms Mash said.
"Today [Thursday] we have had Victim Support in to meet staff involved in the incident as well as our workplace counselling service.
"We have also offered the same services to the family, other families who were at swim school lessons at the time and a couple of community members who were close to the scene. Our staff who managed the situation remain deeply affected by the experience and are overjoyed to hear the child is doing well.''
Ms Mash said she was proud of the "awesome team'' at the Cromwell pool and the incident was "awful'' for everyone concerned.
"But because of an amazing big brother and an attentive mother and our staff, who used their theoretical training for a real-life emergency, a tragedy was avoided.''
The council's own investigation was likely to take several days to complete.
