I am not asking about people who can’t swim or are afraid of the water and fall in and panic, or are clothed, drunk, knocked out ect…
I am very comfortable in the water, but events in the area lately have me wondering. I know of at least 3 swimmers drowning, and several boaters in the area this summer who have drowned. I did not know these people personally but at least 2 of the swimmers were swimming across narrow lakes or across and back.
1 made it within 10 yds of shore witnesses said he cramped went down and never came up. (Hot day cold water) the other was 18 swam across and was 3/4 of the way back when they went under.
I always thought the human body was naturally buoyant? So unless you panic, if you got tired on a swim can’t you just float, even a dead mans float and roll over to breath, or float on your back? I assume since these people made it a significant distance, they had some ability to swim.
Many drownings like you describe are medical. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they could swim though. Typically the lack of swimming or stress of exasperates a medical condition. Also, it doesn’t take much to lose unconciousness once you inhale water and once your lungs fill your a lot less bouyant. It’s easier then you think to drown which is why we see it a lot in this sport.
Should also note that drowning is euphoric as well. Once you actually start technically drowning the panic is gone.
I certainly cannot float, so if I end up in trouble in the water without a wetsuit, I’ll be in big trouble…but I have to ask, “witnesses” saw one guy cramp up 10 yards away from shore—could none of them jump in and try to help out? Were they witnessing with long-range binoculars or something?
Interesting question. First, I am not sure you can rule out panic. Sensi had me doing some breath control sets at the end of an otherwise nasty workout on Friday and the first time down holding my breath for the entire 25 meters I had to remind myself to relax when things got weird and all I had to do was put my feet down. The first rule when trouble appears is to slow things way down. Not sure all people do.
The buoyant thing is also interesting. I could never figure out how people drowned until I learned how to dive - I kept popping up - then they put a weight on me and I went - okay, figured it out.
I certainly cannot float, so if I end up in trouble in the water without a wetsuit, I’ll be in big trouble…but I have to ask, “witnesses” saw one guy cramp up 10 yards away from shore—could none of them jump in and try to help out? Were they witnessing with long-range binoculars or something?
Just wondering…
Unfortunetly it was a 23yr old who was swimming with his 11 yr old brother. The brother made it and several other young kids 11 - 12 were watching by a fence. I now the Dad of one girl who was observing. Unfortunetly none of them did anything other than call 911. Apparently the divers found him, right where the kids said he went down.
I have lived in Hawaii most of my life so I have seen my fair share of problems in the water. In my opinion the majority of cases come down to panicked people making bad decisions leading to exhaustion or serious injury followed by death. For example I was swimming with some people once in a small cove and when we swam out past the mouth the wind was whipping up some moderate chop, which to me is no big deal. One of the people I was with though started getting squirrelly, and within a couple of minutes was on the verge of panic. When you see someone like this, its like a veil has gone over their eyes and they cannot reason, they don’t listen, and it’s very strange and dangerous. This individual then made a beeline toward the closest shore – a rocky promontory being pummeled by waves, which to a rational thinker would be the last thing to do. He got out with a few cuts and scrapes but I wonder what would have happened if he wasn’t able to make it out there. There are many cases I hear like this – people swept off rocks or caught in a current or the wind kicks up or they cramp up or whatever and instead of calmly treading water and signaling for help they panic, expend their energy, try to get out in unsafe places, swim against currents and end up drowning. I think its also familiarity with water – people perceive danger where there isn’t any real danger because they are unfamiliar. The counter example is a local guy here who went for a swim at midnight (drunk? probably) and because of large waves couldn’t get back in. But being local he apparently didn’t see this as reason to be alarmed, so instead of panicking he treaded water/floated for 7-8 hours and come day break the fire dept pulled him out of the water a few miles away, cold and embarrassed but unhurt.
The rip currents are what kill people down here on an unfortunately regular basis. People get caught up in them, panic, and try to fight them rather than staying calm until the current lets up and they can get safely back to the shore.
9 times out of 10, it’s a tourist that dies from drowning. The locals are either smart enough to know how to get out of rip currents, or are smart enough to obey the flags for a beach closed for dangerous conditions.
I always thought the human body was naturally buoyant?
I’m not so sure about that… I’m a sinker… if I take a full breath and stop all movement my feet drop and my body gets vertical with my eyes just below the surface.
When I took the lifeguard test when I was a teenager, the treading water part was the hardest part for me because I had to spend so much energy just to keep my head above water, whereas everyone around me just moved their hands every once in a while
We had a young man die near my house yesterday. Two guys were in the surf when one got caught in a rip current. His friend went to help him. The lifeguard was able to save one but the other was found one hour later…expired. The news reported both of them could not swim. We have had warm weather the last week combined with descent swell… a lifeguard nightmare. People just don’t understand that the ocean is a dangerous place. This is a sad story but unfortunately a common one.
PS: As others posted, another common reason for drowning is drinking/drugs.
I’m not so sure about that… I’m a sinker… if I take a full breath and stop all movement my feet drop and my body gets vertical with my eyes just below the surface.
When I took the lifeguard test when I was a teenager, the treading water part was the hardest part for me because I had to spend so much energy just to keep my head above water, whereas everyone around me just moved their hands every once in a while
I hear ya. You brought back memories from my own 10 year old swim lessons. I wouln’t float unless I was kicking, and the instructor kept yelling at me to be still…Unhappy times.
A couple of factors affect your buoyancy:
Body fat composition. Fat is more buoyant than muscle. If you’re skinny, you might be neutral or negatively buoyant. Couch potatos float like corks.
Lung air volume. Except for the really buoyant (fat), most people can make themselves negatively buoyant by exhaling as much air as possible. Try it in the pool sometime – you’ll sink like a rock.
If you are a diver, the air in your lungs (and also in the neoprene in your wetsuit) compresses with depth. So, you’ll be less buoyant the deeper you dive. (SCUBA divers wear weight belts to compensate for the buoyancy of their wetsuits at the surface. But then they also wear “buoyancy compensators”, which are inflatable vests, to adjust for the buoyancy lost as they dive deeper.)
(pre script - I did not read the posts so this might be redundant)
People die in the water (when they know how to swim) because (IMHO)
They are out of their limits - most adults wil say that they know haw to swim when the ‘remember’ how to swim. think of the first itme you got back in the pool and thougth that you could swim a mile but only made it 50 yds with out grabbing the wall.
Fit swimmers die because of fatigue that is unexpected and is followed by panic.
triathletes die in the water because it is hard it swim and sometimes the body does not agree.
I grew up ‘in’ the water, so it is very familiar to me, so I don’t panic even under the boat after too many drinks, but many people who are familiar with the pool are not with the opne water, thus the problem.
If I stop kicking in the deep end at masters practice, I can touch bottom (13 feet down) in about 4 seconds or so, I’m not buoyant in the least. As long as I keep moving, I’m fine. But I can see how people will panick if they have to struggle to stay afloat. An easy trick is to roll over and gently kick, most people can stay afloat doing that and breathe without problems.
