Yes. A similar situation occurred on Orphan Black - a character got their scarf stuck in the disposal unit in their kitchen, and they were being strangled. Alison Hendrix was there during the entire thing, and had easy access to the switch to turn the disposal unit off, but chose not to, and let the other character die. It's the same as in the swimming scenario, and they are responsible for the death because they could've stopped it if they wanted to.