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.

I agree that is a split in terms of where people live but that split represents experience. I grew up sea swimming and trained so was a good swimmer. Have also nearly drowned and am well aware of the dangers. Many if the dangers are ‘’middle ability’ swimmers who generally are whet I would class as weak open water swimmers. The falsely modest can splash away. The others are the ones that drown.

Never.
'Dark & Lonely water'. Plus no lifeguards, not even adults around?

I Live in rural Scotland. Kids & teens drown every summer in rivers & lochs here.

also - you said she is a 'medium swimmer' ? - Just Nooooooo ......

A 13 year old boy drowned last week just down the road from me last whilst playing in water with friends. Apparently he was a proficient swimmer. Honestly I wouldn't ever let my child swim in open water without adult supervision.

Oh I missed the medium swimmer bit... absolutely not. I'd be wary unless you were actually there with them yourself. I was a very strong swimmer from a young age & I got into trouble several times over. I only got out of it as I was a very strong swimmer & one time still required an older & much bigger very strong swimmer cousins help when I was getting swept away in a strong current

Never. A 13-year-old boy drowned near where we live a couple of weeks ago. he was a strong swimmer and he was with friends.

There is a big difference between swimming in a shallow river to swimming in a deep
loch where after the first foot the water will be icy cold even in summer.
It’s also all about risk assessment- our rules are most of the rivers round here are fine (assuming no heavy inland rains) but one area which is popular as is shallow with stepping stones is banned as there is a hidden very deep drop off that has drowned teens before. Beach is fine (as shallow no rip tides etc) Pier jumping is banned as is swimming in one river estuary nearby which does have strong currents.

Lifeguarded and properly run? 13/14 same age I would
Let them going swimming pool on their own.

No lifeguard and random lake? Never

i would never swim in a lake. I don't have children but if I did, I would never let them swim in a lake. The water might be dirty and there is risk of drowning.

Maybe you could work on their swimming skills so they could enjoy beach holidays . . . I can't imagine a childhood without playing in the sea.

I would have thought going into the sea is much more risky than a lake. Tides, currents, waves. A Loch or lake surly is much safer?
anyone jumping in on a hot day is probably not being wise, but seriously why are all these people dying swimming in open water?

I’m an open water swimmer and swim in lakes often. I wouldn’t allow my youngsters to go unaccompanied.

We have a whole host of safety plans - including tow floats and people who would know what to do in an emergency. I wouldn’t want to put the responsibility of pulling someone out and calling emergency services onto children.

We also look out for signs of hyperthermia (granted its warm now, but still a risk of after drop if they are in a while).

I really wouldn’t allow this - however there’s always a risk your daughter may sneak off and do it anyway, so make sure she knows about ‘float to live’. This really should be taught to every child in primary school, along with how to swim 25m safely.

rnli.org/safety/float

And here we have why people are drowning in lakes.

They don't recognise that it's dangerous due to cold water shock, underwater currents, weeds, dumped cars and other obstacles, mud.

A 16 YO boy drowned in the canal not far from here a few days ago. It's only about 4 feet deep but still dangerous.

www.westyorkshire.police.uk/news-appeals/warning-about-open-water-swimming-following-death-wakefield-teenager

What on Earth has age got to do with anything? All the kids need to be strong swimmers to do this, be sensible around water, stick together and not consume alcohol. Age is irrelevant.

Never. Lakes are dangerous.

Only at a supervised open water swimming event

But you walk into a lake the same as in the sea!! The water is often much warmer in a lake than the sea in my experience.

I open water swim both in the river and lake near where I live. For the lake no child under 16 is allowed and they have loads of safety measures in place for those that do swim (and we have a lot of competent swimmers). They need to be a competent swimmer to start with and swimming in a lake is very different to a pool. Personally I wouldn't allow it unless there is at least one adult present who knows basic safety rules and can swim

Lochs can have much steeper drop offs and are much colder.
Often people don't recognize that they can have strong underwater currents, hidden debris or weeds.

The lake my dc swim in in the USA is so different from Loch Lomond, it is weedy in places but with warm, clear water and small with no strong currents.

I still shunt dc past weeds on a paddle board or dingy.

But you don’t tend to have sudden drop offs in depth at the beach (or at least not ones round here) Loch Lomond for example is up to 190m deep- you’d have to be a long way out to sea for that sort of depth and it makes it much colder.

Cross posted with @calmlakes !!

I'm really interested in how vehement some of these answers are. I live in the Lakes and my kids have grown up here. As my username suggests I'm an open water swimmer and have been swimming three times this week. My children (now teens) have grown up swimming in the local lakes, tarns and rivers. It's never occurred to me that they shouldn't - it's just what young people do here; meet after school and go swimming. At primary school they did an organised swim across one of the local lakes. Almost everyone I know open water swims; children and adults. My 16 yo DD went in on new years day with a friend.

The water temp varies a lot in different bodies of water. The river near our house which comes direct from the mountains is very cold as are the high tarns. A lower tarn which I swim in all year round is warm at the moment, as is one of local lakes which is very shallow until you get a long way out. You can easily swim without even getting out of your depth.

I can see that if you're not used to it it seems dangerous but here it's part of daily life in the summer for many.

Op I'm glad you've got her to see the dangers, something like 34 people died in water related accidents in Scotland last year. They weren't all kids.

Paddled in a low river maybe but not swimming in a loch.

But you and your family are used to it, that's the point @lakeswimmer

Most people aren't. They have little or no experience or much awareness of the dangers.

We're seeing (almost) daily drownings across the country and it is very likely there will be more in the next week or two.

Official warnings for people not to swim in unofficial spots from the RNLI etc

Warning notices and memorials near many city park lakes, canals, reservoirs etc telling people not to swim and remembering the deaths of people who ignored the warnings.

In the link I posted above, the Canal & River Trust warned 'Even in the summer months, open water can be very cold. Anyone entering cold water suddenly is susceptible to hyperventilation, which can result in the body going into seizure'

People are only commenting based on the above, are you saying people should ignore official advice?

Got my numbers wrong 39 drawings in Scotland in 2021, 277 across the UK.

And per head of population Scotland had more deaths than England.

My parents live near Loch Lomond and every year there are heartbreaking incidents. It looks inviting but there are so many hidden dangers. Peer pressure is a dangerous thing, it's hard to resist joining in with friends who may be allowed.