CENTRAL — A woman swimming in a pond at the Blackwater Conservation Area in Central was taken to the hospital in critical condition Friday morning.

A spokesperson from the Central Fire Department told WBRZ that, around 6:45 a.m., the woman was swimming with another person in the water of the BREC nature preserve when she began struggling to swim. Her companion brought her to an island in the middle of the body of water before Central Fire arrived in a boat and brought her to shore. 

There, Baton Rouge EMS treated her before taking her to the hospital.

Central Fire said that East Baton Rouge Parish deputies and Baton Rouge firefighters also responded to the scene.