Apart from the Gilmania Kingdom era, elves had always been a non-marine race with an innate fear of water. After the fall of the kingdom, the scattered elves mostly chose remote mountain areas inland to hide from attacks. In such environments, let alone rivers and lakes, they would be grateful for small streams to ensure drinking water. As for swimming, they could forget about it.
Looking at the vast Alfheim, it was a city of non-swimmers. Except for the navy still struggling in the pond, there were no lifeguards to deal with drowning incidents! There was also no elf onsite who could jump into the water without drowning themselves while fishing out Pasiphael!
Although they tried to reach out their hands or offer wooden sticks for Pasiphael to grab, it was of no use; there was a fatal distance between the panicking Pasiphael and the straw to save his life.