The drowning of a 13-year-old Versailles boy a month ago has raised concerns about the lack of swim training and water safety courses for young people who live in South Hills towns along the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers.

"There are far fewer community pools today and swim lessons than there were 20 years ago in these communities," said Joanne Thomas, who is aquatic manager for the Wilmerding YMCA.

"From what I've seen, these days there is more emphasis on high school swim teams rather than basic instruction for children," she said.

In most area suburban school districts swimming is first introduced as part of high school physical education, she said.

Folks here are talking more about river safety after the May 24 death of August Berg Jr., 13, who died while playing in the Youghiogheny River. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office ruled his death an accident. He was reportedly swimming with an 11-year old girl near an abandoned pump house, and his body was recovered within 50 feet of where he went under.

His family had only weeks before moved to Versailles from Glassport.

There was another river death on the Yough on June 24. A Washington County man died after being swept over Ohiopyle Falls in the popular State Park of that name about 70 miles east from Downtown.

George Willhoft Jr., 20, was swimming with friends when he was caught in rushing storm-swollen waters, authorities said.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiners office could not give exact numbers of cases of river drownings. Those numbers are not broken out from the overall statistics about drowning deaths.

Amy Barnes, vice president of Versailles Council and chairperson of the its health and safety committee, said police were called to the exact site of the Versailles child's death on June 19, and they had to warn off more children who were swimming there.

There is a makeshift memorial, a simple wooden cross, at the site, an abandoned pump-house known by locals as China Beach because it served at one time as a dumping area for a local porcelain factory.

Local businesses are donating steel to fence off a small vacant structure there. The roof of that structure, called the pump house, appears to be a popular jumping off spot for local children.

"They are relentless," Ms. Barnes said about children and their attraction to the river. "Unless you build a 100-foot fence in that area, you can't keep them away."

Monroeville, Homestead, McKeesport and Glassport police all responded to the accident and a volunteer from the McKees Point Marina pulled the little girl to safety, said Ray Dougherty, marina manager.

Versailles council is considering erecting more trespassing signs along the town's shore with the Youghiogheny.

Ms. Thomas said the Wilmerding YMCA has children's swim programs in several neighboring communities, including a program with UPMC Braddock and one at Woodland Hills Junior High in Swissvale. She said the Y is in talks with Rankin for another.

The town of Clairton, located on the Mon, also offers three sessions of swim instruction over the summer.

But the further one travels down the Monongahela, the more scarce these programs become.

The closure of the McKeesport YMCA's fitness center and pool has only made matters worse. The center once drew swimmers from communities on both banks of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers. But, the pool was closed in early May.

On Sunday, Ella Howard, of McKeesport, was fishing with her husband at the Richard J. Gergley Riverfront Park in that town.

Mrs. Howard, who lost a cousin in a swimming accident in the Mon back in the 1980s, said she always worries about water safety on Pittsburgh's fabled rivers.

She said an overall lack of swim and safety training is compounded by another trend.

"I see more and more [younger] kids going fishing on their own," she said. "I've seen kids as young as nine at the river by themselves."

Mrs. Howard said that one of the favorite hang-out spots for kids is a narrow dirt trail near the park along the McKeesport shore line.

"They jump off right into the river," she said.

McKeesport Mayor Jim Brewster said that community was not turning away from river safety.

He added: "If we built a pool they would still drown in the river. I'm 60 years old, and I've lost a lot of friends in that river."

Officials in municipalities up and down the Mon Valley's two rivers say they rely on McKeesport for river rescue services. The annual river rescue budget, around $20,000, doesn't include the regular pay of the six firefighters and police officers who are certified rescue divers.

The service responds on 12.6 miles of the Mon between Braddock and Elizabeth locks and about 3 or 4 miles on Yough, depending on navigability. It can be very shallow around Boston section of Yough.

The fire department is trying to purchase a quality river rescue boat, which can cost up to $180,000. It can cost up $10,000 to train and equip a diver, he said.

"We have somebody in the firehouse at all hours to respond to calls for help on the river, and more can be reached by pager," Mr. Brewster said. "And they are out there within seconds."

Deputy Fire Chief Chuck Margliotti said the department will likely add a talk on river safety to the existing fire safety curriculum that the department takes into the schools.

The fire program teaches children from kindergarten through third grade, and for any other class that requests the service.

"We have people in the schools every day in October," said Fire Department Chief Kevin Lust.

On Sunday, Bill Larson, of Versailles, was taking a break at the McKees Cafe near the McKeesport marina.

"Something happens and then everybody pays attention for a while," he said.

Erica Russ, 23, who works at the cafe, said that river rescue is great, but it doesn't solve all the problems.

"McKeesport's young kids ... don't know how to swim," she said.

"The nearest community pool is in White Oak," she complained. "It's $8 for children under 12 if you're not a resident or a member, and it's $10 for adults."

"Last time I went, I said, 'Fine, I'll just sit in the car.' "