Yesterday a young man lost his life while swimming at the Diving Board area in Graignamangh. He was only 22 years old. By all accounts he was not a particularly good swimmer.
He was not a local person, but was from Cushenstown in Wexford. Local knowledge of any swimming area is absolutely essential as this shows. I have swam in this area for 28 years. The second you stop respecting the Barrow, it kills you. Almost everyone from Graig is aware of this and they all know about it. There is 8 feet of water where the guy was lost, and it only gets deeper. The water is about 40 metres from bank to bank, and i regularly swim from one side to the other. I would be a strong swimmer, and as recently as monday i swam across, and there is a strong current in it at the moment. The poor guy didnt have a chance if he was a poor swimmer.
There was some discussion about what to do to prevent this in the future. This is the third tragedy in recent times on our stretch of the river. As a local i am shocked and stunned. As a swimmer i am horrifed at some of the reactions by people. People were saying that they are never going to allow their kids to swim. My GOD! those kids will be the ones when they are 22 that will get into difficulty. If anything i would be insisting that they not only swim more, but learn about the area, where is safe to swim, where can be dangerous, and the proper usage of life saving equipment.
There is talk of getting a life guard for the Diving Board area, i dont know the reasons why there isnt one there (we do have one further up the river at the Boy’s Sandy area). There is talk of collecting for scuba and snorkling equipment to be available in the Regatta Boat House, and a group of locals to be trained in its usage. Also, explicit posters and plackards detailing exactly what you are getting into when you swim in this area.
This is a real tragedy. This poor guy tried to follow as many of the tenets of safe swimming as possible. He was with friends, he was properly attired, the life bouys were available and were thrown to him properly, there was a small crowd around and people did try to go after him. But he was out of his depth, and there was only about half a metre of visibility under the surface. His lack of knowledge of the area and his possible weak swimming are the only things that acted against him.
My thoughts are not only with his family, but his friends who brought up for a swim and a bit of craic. In addition, the men who found and recovered him, i have nothing but the utmost respect for them, i i hope they are well
Here is a link to the irish times article about it
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0604/1224248024637.html
Mental!!