Drownings in the area (Boston, Worcester: live, swimming lessons, estimate)

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Houghton's Pond is cloudy/murky, and with some significant drops offs that aren't visible. Add in visitors who can't swim, it's a recipe for trouble.

This essentially the crux of it. People who can swim aren't immune from drowning, but the vast, vast majority of rescues I've participated in (as well as the handful of searches) were people who weren't swimmers who found themselves literally over their heads. Around here, oceans/bays can be very dangerous due to surf and currents, but the popular beaches here generally have a consistent, gradual slope toward deeper water with few obstacles hiding underneath (at least where people are swimming). The salt water makes you significantly more buoyant than fresh. Ponds and lakes are more unpredictable - you can be standing in ankle deep water and find yourself over your head in two more steps. Ponds and lakes also are much more likely to be hiding branches or other obstacles than can trip you up, snag your suit, or pop your tube/raft (inflatables are a major false sense of security). Thing is, the average person who can't swim also isn't thinking of any of this. If my kid couldn't swim, I'd rather have them on Cape Cod Bay, or any of the tidal beaches (apart from days with higher surf), than the vast majority of ponds/lakes around here.

Also, spring is also particularly bad for drowning as people underestimate the impact of the cold on their bodies. Most of the bodies of water around here are still cold enough to tire even a strong swimmer out pretty quickly. If you've ever had to swim even 50 yards in water that's 60ish degrees, you know how terrifying it is.

[mdovell]

Two out in western mass, ct river

https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news...r-near-hadley/

[msRB311]

I'm 42 and we never had swimming lessons as part of our PE program at school. I took swim lessons for years though. It's sad, maybe working parents don't have time for this? I don't know.

I also didn't want to say it but it seems like POC are more likely to drown than white people.

I also wonder if alcohol is involved. I took a walk at houghtons pond one day and I felt like i was in Mexico. The place was filled with people having BBQ's and i'm sure they were drinking. Not knowing how to swim + booze seems like a recipe for disaster.

[msRB311]

There are YMCA's all over the city...my kids actually had their first swim lessons at the YMCA in hyde park.

[Amontillado]

I was strolling around the old graveyard in Groton on a not-too-cold day last winter, and this tombstone caught my eye:



The carving says:

Mememto Mori (Remember that you will die)

Here lie inter'd the Remains of Mr John Lawrence, son of Abel Lawrence Esq & Mrs Mary his wife who suddenly departed this life by Being Drownded June 8th 1772 In the 19th year of his Age

Died in June, age 19. I wonder where it happened, and what he was doing.

[msRB311]

Here's another woman who drowned a few days ago when her boat capsized off the coast of scituate:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/turnto1...-boat-capsizes

Drowning just seems like an awful way to die.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by robr2

Lifeguards are not yet on duty at Houghton's Pond.

Yes, it could be demographics. 70 % of Black and 60% of Hispanic children do not know how to swim versus 40% of white children. Much of that comes from lack of programs targeting them where they live and the simple fact that it's not encouraged by their parents.

A few years ago, Brandon Bass - then 28 and a member of the Celtics - decided to learn how to swim. His son was the first one in his family to learn. He had the means to pay for his kids to learn and owning a house on a lake was a factor.

Look at the Olympic swim teams - not much color there.

Certainly tied to opportunity and it's not simply limited to minority demographics, as you point out with your percentages. I have a number of white peers who grew up part of Boston metros working class and they can't really swim as their childhood access to pools/bodies of water was extremely limited. They'll float around clear shallow beaches (e.g., Jenness, Brewster), but are extremely hesitant to enter murky fresh water or walk around deep water docks. Some won't even board boats regardless of life jacket availability.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by msRB311

My wonder is at why by age 12, 13 and 16 do kids not know how to swim.

They probably do know how to swim, but don't know how to do it well or overestimate their skills.


Swimming in a pool is one thing, but even i've been swimming in a lake where i've gone to swim out to a floating raft or a swimming platform and got halfway there and thought "Damn, this thing is further out than I thought". I'm a pretty good swimmer too, or so i'd like to think.


It's unfortunate.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Swimming in a pool is one thing, but even i've been swimming in a lake where i've gone to swim out to a floating raft or a swimming platform and got halfway there and thought "Damn, this thing is further out than I thought". I'm a pretty good swimmer too, or so i'd like to think.

You're right. There aren't many situations where I'll confidently say, "yeah, I'm really good at that," but swimming is one of them. I was in swim lessons at 6 months, swimming competitively by 5, and competed at a pretty high level in high school before joining the cult of surf rescue in college (and then getting lazy and taking a cushier guard job). But I've still managed to find myself in couple of "oh crap" situations.

• One was retrieving a runaway dinghy on Lake Winnie in mid-May when I was 18. The water was "chilly" (probably low-mid 50s) and the boat was maybe 75 yards from shore and drifting slower than a moderate swimming pace. By the time I got to it, it was maybe 125 yards from shore - not too far at all, but the cold takes an incredible toll. I was completely wiped by the time I got 3/4 of the way to the boat and nervous I wouldn't make it either to the boat or back to shore. It was terrifying.
• The other was during a storm surge while a hurricane was just off shore in 2009 while I was working along the Horseneck stretch. The Coast Guard had closed the whole stretch to swimming and small boats, but we were there to keep anyone out of the water who decided to walk down and look at the waves. But the waves were REALLY nice and I thought I would try a little body surfing. I threw on fins and grabbed a lifeguard torpedo (the little orange things they put in front of the stand). I paddled past the break and was tired, but I had the flotation and the fins, so I rested a few minutes behind the break (about 150 yards from the beach) before trying to catch a wave. I got in front of the first big one I saw and juuuuuust caught it a second too late so I was closer to the crest of the wave when it curled over and slammed me down to the bottom (I was in about 15 feet of water) extremely hard. It ripped off my fins, spun the torpedo strap around my mid-section, and dragged me along the sandy bottom for what felt like ever. I was in pain and pinned by the force of the wave. It was the closest to thinking "I'm dead" that I've ever been. Eventually it relented enough for me to push off the bottom and break the surface to catch a breath. I let the white water take me the rest of the way in. My back was scraped up really bad and I was so shaken. I'll never forget that feeling.

The (long-winded) point is that swimmers of any level can overestimate their own ability in challenging conditions and/or underestimate the threats in the water. It's not always just a matter of swimmer vs. non-swimmer.

[msRB311]

I took swimming lessons for quite a while as a kid as well. I grew up spending summers at pools, the oceans, lakes. I'm pretty confident I wouldn't drown unless I was in a boat that capsized in the middle of the ocean or something. I have heard people panic and they basically lose their ability to stay afloat. Very sad. I hate hearing about these drowning situations. It's right up there with leaving kids in hot cars. They just seem so avoidable.