to remind you all if water/swimming safety this summer

[bluerunningshoes]

american site but very useful

...and teach your dc (and yourself) to float on their backs on the water.
if they (or you) get into difficulties this is an energy saving way for waiting for help.

and don't get into trouble on a nudist beach like I did

Oh dear blue, which of those very basic rules did you fail to follow? Own up, what daft fuckery did you do that would lead you to post that here?

I'd like to warn everyone not to let a toddler run at speed down a steep slope. No reason for me to mention that. Just letting everyone know it's best avoided. I know.

for us it was the undertow. the kind that grabs you by the ankle and pulls you out to sea.
the life guard was proper baywatch hot

we only went into the water to bottom deep!

RabbitsAreTasty why the attitude? If you go to any busy pool you'll find at least a few parents not abiding by these rules and some of them I hadn't thought of myself (water watcher strategy) totally worth posting and reminding people.

Rabbitsaretasty obviously ate a bad rabbit today.

Thanks OP for posting, better to be safe than sorry.

I thought Rabbits was being lighthearted (though a bit acerbic)

I've had endless conversations with DS6 about why it's important that he learns to swim. He's adamant that he'll be fine because he can hold his breath if he goes underwater We are persevering, naturally.

Yeah, I was trying to be funny seeing as nobody was replying. Clearly failed.

Besides, people pay little attention to preaching. A real life story gets people thinking more.

As it turns out Blue got caught by an undercurrent in shallow water! Scary! Tell us more please. What happened and how did you get out of it?

lucky for us, the baywatch guy swam to us with the buoy thingy and we were picked up by a motorboat from the next beach.

there was no way we could have swom against the tow!

that's another lesson - don't swim against the tow. you will tire out. either swim paralel to to tow and see a 100m or so further if you can swim, or if you are at a beach with life guards, lay back and float and raise one arm so they can see you.