To mention some water safety issues we all need to know?

[Northernlurker]

Having read of some awful tragedies over the weekend with open water I thought I would start a thread with a few points and others can add. Because not everybody has had the same exposure to open water risks so what is common sense to one person is utterly unknown to others.

Open water in the UK is cold. Really cold. Even on sunny days. The deeper you go, the colder. This can take even fit and well people by surprise.

Don't jump in to unknown water ever. We are a rocky country populated by messy people. Water hides rocks, logs, metal and all manner of hazards.

Piers and jetty lead out from the shore to deep water so boats can be accessed. Don't regard them as an extension of the shore. The water will be both deep and cold.

Swim parallel to the shore, not out to sea.

No inflatables in the sea ever.

Tides move faster than you can walk, know what your exit route is.

If you can't swim, don't go out of your depth. Don't try and help people in trouble. You help just as much by fetching help or fetching items people in the water can hold on to.

Make sure your teenagers know these principles.

And remember 'float to live'

@Jobseeker19 it’s your responsibility to teach your kids to swim. Not the schools and not anyone else’s responsibility.

Dont know if someone has said but apparently diving into cold water on a very hot day sends your body into shock. You take a huge breath automatically and drown. Ive just seen the advert, Float like a star fish.

@mm8989

I recently read that when a reservoir freezes over. they still draw water...this leaves an air gap. if you fall through the ice, you could have several feet or air and no chance of escape.

There's something quite horrifying about that image. I would never have known.

The amount of deaths is shocking. I was commenting to my partner last night how earlier this year I saw loads of features on TV encouraging people to do open water swimming. This included celebs.

@Thatsjustwhatithink

To also just give a different way of looking at it. I grew up swimming in lakes, rivers and the sea. Loved swimming, still do. A huge part of this is being a good swimmer and being confident in the water. My gran (love her, no longer with us) taught me to swim and built my confidence. My mum and (separately) my dad encouraged me swimming in the sea. They both grew up in the local area and swimming in the sea was pretty much the only option for holidays.

The big thing here was expaining and teaching me hazards (tides, rip tides, whitewater etc) so I learnt both the dangers and the joy of being in the water. A lot of parents now haven't been given this opportunity and haven't been able to pass it on to their kids but have passed on fear and stay out. Sadly as kids grow, all kids want to piss about with their mates in the hot weather, swimming paddling and pushing each other. The ones that are poor swimmers or lack confidence in the water (like a PP, floating is a absolute must) are the ones that tire easily and panick and are more likely to get in to difficulty.

I'm lucky to spend a lot of time abroad with my job and the difference with some (mostly European) countries is startling. There's ladders off piers and jettys, swimming platforms in lakes and in the sea, and kids are encouraged to get in the water from a young age. In the UK, it's very much, don't go in, stay out you'll die and kids aren't learning to enjoy the water, build the skills and strength and be confident.

For me it shouldn't be all 'cold water shock etc'. The country I'm currently in is way north of the UK, it's defo colder.. Give kids the basics, let them test it a bit and grow up making better decisions about the water. Otherwise it's like those kids at college or university who have never been allowed any independence and they go mental at with drinks, partners etc. Just hoping there's a balance and that there are some great clubs/teachers/you tube to help people!!

We spend a lot of time on and in our local loch and I’d agree with you. It shouldn’t be all about stay away from the water. It should be about teaching them to be safe whilst having fun. It’s been a real lifesaver during COVID when everywhere else is closed/ limited.

That said I live close to a river as well but I don’t let the kids play in that as it’s not safe. Some people do though and there are kids in the water with boogie boards and no wetsuit or buoyancy aid. A kid died in those circumstances 2 years ago.

It sort of feels like there should be a common sense test, can you swim, do you have appropriate equipment for the water, a reasonable understanding of the dangers, do you know what to do in an emergency? No? Best stay away from the water.

You do? Excellent crack on and have a lovely time.

Last week my ds 18 and I were walking along a beach and came across a boy of around 7 or 8 in difficulty in the water. He was out of his depth and tiring, he was trying to swim straight in but obviously struggling.

We waded in and dragged him out, the current was really strong and my ds had to grab me to steady me. Back in the day I was a trained lifeguard but I am by no means fit now, if he had been further out I'm not sure I could have done anything other than alert the emergency services.

His parents were sitting much further up the beach and hadn't noticed. Maybe if they'd put their phones down they might have.

They were quite defensive and the father got quite rude. I walked away as he called me "a stuck up cow".

Unfortunately I have seen several drownings. It never leaves you.

When swimming in a pool with pre-teens and younger kids, PLEASE BE AWARE that when they are drowning, THEY DO NOT ALWAYS LOOK AS IF THEY ARE DROWNING! They often look as if they are actually playing in the water. If they do not surface quickly, CHECK ON THEM!!!

Drowning does not always look like it does on TV. This is a 5-year-old actually drowning. HE WAS REVIVED, but the adults all around him fail to realize that he is in trouble.

When DH and I had a canal boat short break in about 1999, we were on the canal when some kids (age 11 to 14 ish) hitched a ride. They were OK and told me they were going to a flooded gravel pit where there was a submerged double decker bus! It gave me the shudders to think of how dangerous that would be for them but I said nothing. No point.

@Mamanyt

Yes I pulled a 5 year old up and out the pool last week who was in exactly that position. Their dad was about half a m away and hadn’t noticed!

[quote User5827372728]@Mamanyt

Yes I pulled a 5 year old up and out the pool last week who was in exactly that position. Their dad was about half a m away and hadn’t noticed![/quote]
GOOD! Thank you. People don't realize how...normal...kids looks while drowning!

I nearly drowned when I was eight. My gran, who worked in the swimming pool office, was checking the money after the open air pool had closed, leaving me on my own by the pool. I jumped into the deep end with a rubber ring around my waist. It slipped down to my ankles, lifting them up above the water. My head kept dropping low into the water. I remember screaming and choking. Thankfully the life guard (who'd gone off duty) saw me and jumped in.

@Looubylou

The amount of deaths is shocking. I was commenting to my partner last night how earlier this year I saw loads of features on TV encouraging people to do open water swimming. This included celebs.

Hardly anyone sober drowns as a result of swimming for exercise (as opposed to splashing around in the shallows on a beach or lake).

Half of drownings are people who never meant to enter the water e.g. fall in/ are pushed.

A third are drunk.

Many of the rest are people paddling who get caught in a rip or fall off a ledge, or people involved in watersports.

Despite what some posters on this thread want you to believe, swimming for exercise is an extremely safe activity.

Only about 35 people per year drown while swimming - and that includes the pissed ones - data here

Twice as many people drown while running or walking (having fallen in) than drown while swimming.

Swimming for exercise is very safe. Lack of exercise is killing millions of people in the UK ahead of their time. It's great that celebs are encouraging people to swim.

Mamanyt that clip was extremely hard to watch but so important also. That poor poor child he just looked like he was playing, with the rolling etc. Easy to see how people just swam on by. Heartbreaking. Thank goodness he was ok. Poor lamb.

I’m staying with my parents in Cornwall this week (they live here) and the number of people I’ve seen paddle boarding on the fowey river without life jackets is absolutely bonkers. Some even have small kids with them on the board without a life jacket. Horrifying.

My daughter almost drowned on holiday a couple of years ago. Right next to us in the pool. Since then I found the most amazing lady who has learnt a method taught in the USA to teach them to flip and float on their backs. It can be taught even to a baby.
Safety tips (some are hers)

• BRIGHT swimwear (no blue)
• If you lose your child, look in the water FIRST, not last
• Teach them to float, with clothes on
• Never use inflatables or flotation devices when learning to swim, they won't be there if you fall in the water by accident...

@Mamanyt crikey, that was a really difficult watch, but so important, thanks for sharing. So scary that there were so many people around him, and so close by!

Not rtft but I'm loving the topic! We sail/paddle board in the Solent and ALWAYS wear wetsuits and bouyancy aids. So many people don't wear even bouyancy aids for paddle boarding and so many people pushing their kids out on inflatables way out if their depth! It's also always bloody freezing!

@Northernlurker

Having read of some awful tragedies over the weekend with open water I thought I would start a thread with a few points and others can add. Because not everybody has had the same exposure to open water risks so what is common sense to one person is utterly unknown to others.

Open water in the UK is cold. Really cold. Even on sunny days. The deeper you go, the colder. This can take even fit and well people by surprise.

Don't jump in to unknown water ever. We are a rocky country populated by messy people. Water hides rocks, logs, metal and all manner of hazards.

Piers and jetty lead out from the shore to deep water so boats can be accessed. Don't regard them as an extension of the shore. The water will be both deep and cold.

Swim parallel to the shore, not out to sea.

No inflatables in the sea ever.

Tides move faster than you can walk, know what your exit route is.

If you can't swim, don't go out of your depth. Don't try and help people in trouble. You help just as much by fetching help or fetching items people in the water can hold on to.

Make sure your teenagers know these principles.

And remember 'float to live'

This is why Mumsnet was invented.

Hats off to you OP.

How refreshing to read an intelligent and well thought out post.

A big thank you.

Thanks for this thread OP

Absolutely fabulous thread. Nothing to add but very concise, sensitive to those that have lost their loved ones, accurate and also an inclusive post.

Those bloody mermaid tails too, will lift up your legs out of the water & dunk your torso.
Potentially lethal on children.

[quote Mamanyt]When swimming in a pool with pre-teens and younger kids, PLEASE BE AWARE that when they are drowning, THEY DO NOT ALWAYS LOOK AS IF THEY ARE DROWNING! They often look as if they are actually playing in the water. If they do not surface quickly, CHECK ON THEM!!!

Drowning does not always look like it does on TV. This is a 5-year-old actually drowning. HE WAS REVIVED, but the adults all around him fail to realize that he is in trouble.

[/quote] This is horrifying to watch (but so incredibly important for people to see I think). I can’t believe the amount of people literally right next to him not realising. It felt like an eternity watching and waiting for someone to help him. Poor poor boy. I’m so glad he survived. But I can’t help but think of all those that haven’t .

Seeing the lifeguards on the following clips was incredible though. What heroes they are.

Wow that video was such a hard watch but so informative.

Thank you for all these tips. We are going to the beach soon for a first visit with the kids and I've understood now the risks