Come on, lets be reasonable. Eery death is a tragedy but for everyone who drowns by swimming recklessly in unsuitable water, hundreds of thousands of other people paddle and swim in rivers streams and lakes and in the sea.
DD is a wild swimmer. She swims in one of the gravel pits that are part of a local nature reserve. The pool is dedicated to organised wild swimming. it is supervised. She swims all year round,without a wet suit, and we have pictures of her breaking ice to get in.
This weekend we stayed on a houseboat on the broads. The water in the inlet where we were moored was about a metre deep and clear, you could see the bottom. She went swimming there, while I watched and she wore her tow float.
When we hired a day boat to go up river we met many paddle boarders, canooists and kayakers. Some of them drown each year. many of those were mooringup where there were shallows and gravel to paddle and swim.
Lets keep it in proportion, yes every year people drown. usually because they choose to wild swim in an unsafe way in obviously unsafe waters. but many more swim all year round is a safe and secure manner and enjoy the mix of swimming and nature.
