What age to swim in a lake with friends?

[DolphinAspirations]

What age would you be happy for your DD to swim in a lake with no adult supervision? It would be with friends of the same age in scotland. Mine has swum in a lake a couple of times with me but that’s all. She can swim at a medium sort of level.

We are having a difference of opinion.

Nope. I've had two family members die in rivers. One got tangled in reeds and the other I don't know as I wasn't born.
One was 11 and the other 18.

People drowned. That’s what happened before we had lots of access to safe swimming pools, people went swimming in open water and some of them died as a result.

There are campaigns about open water safety every year. The idea that it was done in the olden days and wasn’t a problem is rubbish, do you apply the same logic to seat belts in cars?

I agree with never.

A lot more people drowned but because deaths of young people were more common no one raised an eyebrow.

You’re overprotective and nieve and you didn’t have to make this post. (I’d let my child at any age.)

What do your teens all do in the hot weather then?! They literally all go river swimming here.

More fool you then.

Its been common to swim in fresh water for decades even after swimming pools were built.

I bet people who feeling this is too risky are happy to drive around or their children cycle to school.

Risk is everywhere, its about putting in mitigations

Never, there have already been 2 deaths in our region this weekend.

Adult age, and even then I would discourage or suggest it's done as part of a co-ordinated group for safety.

A 16 year old has drowned this week swimming in a canal near me.

I’d be ok with this from 16 provided it was a lake safe for swimming and they knew the basic rules. My kids have swum in the North Sea all their lives as have I. They also ride and ski, all potentially dangerous 🤷‍♀️

Also depends what you mean by “medium sort of level”.

For me not without somebody experienced present.

I do remember being 15/16 and having all sorts of bonkers ideas about what would be sensible to do having done it once or twice previously with an adult (!) - particularly remember one summer my mum and aunt making us return a rubber dinghy we wanted to go out to sea in and my younger cousin spluttering "But we'll have two just about sixteen year olds with us!" In hindsight we knew absolutely nothing about boat or sea safety!

Stick to your guns if you don't feel right.

And people drowned doing it. One of my great uncles drowned in the 1960s swimming in a river.

I'm my city in the last few days a 16 YO boy drowned in the canal.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-62139429

I go walking in the countryside and often walk round lakes and by canals and just about all of them have notices about not swimming, even in hot weather and details of people who have drowned and every summer several people across the country lose their lives after ignoring the warnings.

Not at all.

Only with an adult. Lakes are cold and dangerous. I love swimming in them but I prefer to have another strong swimmer with me (I am a strong swimmer) in case either of us gets into trouble

I've swum in rivers and the sea as an older teenager and as a proper adult. My ability to judge risk has improved immensely between 18-19 and now - and I was probably the most sensible teenager I knew. And I hung out with teens who were the most sensible teenagers too. I nearly drowned as a teenager and I am probably the strongest swimmer out of everyone I know. That did make me more prepared to take risks I think though, so might be six of one.

What does a medium ability swimmer mean?

Ultimately it depends doesn't it - one could get hit by a car when riding a bike, but the trouble with drowning is that it's very quick. I think for me it would require me to know the lake and the part of the lake they were going to. Some lakes have long shallowish shores where you could play and swim within your depth without requiring you to wade through large quantities of reeds. Some lakes have deep mud, or masses of weeds or a very steep drop off/require you to be able to haul yourself out rather than walk out. Those things would make me much less likely agree. I tend to think coming up with an alternative that works (swimming pool, lido, open water swimming hole with a lifeguard) is better than an outright ban - because depending on age next time they just may not bother asking.

Hope you trust your local water company then! "In 2021, the water companies were responsible for 368,966 spills, during which raw sewage and untreated wastewater was dumped into aquatic environments for a total of 2,650,290 hours" read this

Do you mean a supervised swimming lake or just a lake?

Sorry, this was for @MsTSwift

Eg having an adult with them!

I love wild swimming but not for unsupervised under 16s, teenagers are not known for their level heads.

My two are 14 and 12. We go as a family to the local river to swim but still don't allow the 14 year old without us.

Absolutely not a chance and I am in Scotland

I do think this all seems very cautious. We swim and paddleboard in a loch all the time and my dc are aged 7-11. Eldest are allowed out to designated area on their own. Teach kids proper water safety and ensure they have appropriate kit wetsuits/ buoyancy aids.

I disagree with everyone! Many of the young teens swim round here.

There is both a lake and a river, locally that many families go to. You have to be respectful of water, generally. There is minimal tides, and everyone who has gone there for generations feels safe, but respectful. But both places are shallow, safe, and many many families and people of all ages paddle and swim there, and have done for years.

Is it a regular swimming place - so considered safe. How many are going, can they really all be competent swimmers?
I would suggest an adult should be around when they go and check it's a safe place. Maybe if all seems ok they can go themselves another time.