Posted on 07/09/2010 8:16:57 AM PDT by ventanax5
The new captain jumped from the cockpit, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the owners who were swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”
How did this captain know, from fifty feet away, what the father couldn’t recognize from just ten? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.
(Excerpt) Read more at mariovittone.com ...
Truly. When I got the ping for this article I thought it was going to be about Zer0's job performance.
I watched a two year old trip into a pool 4 feet deep, not more than 10 feet from a couple adults that had their back towards him. They had no idea he was there in the water until I ran over and grabbed him.
You really do need to keep an eye on the water. It’s a very quiet killer.
I’ll be darned PING ... thank you.
I’ve sent this one to my swim club and posted it on FB. Very important information. I nearly drowned (twice) as a youngster, and the time that I remember, it felt like they’re describing. I silently and helplessly felt myself slipping under. I didn’t yell or splash; it was as though I couldn’t do anything to help myself. I never knew it was a normal response.
The actual time that I noticed his struggle and my decision to jump in and my meeting the eyes of the lifeguard all happened within seconds of each other. I'm sure the way I told it sounded like I was casually standing by, but I wasn't.
Also, just as this article points out I wasn't aware of the real signs of a possible drowning. Like I said, I thought maybe he was playing under the surface as kids are want to do.
I hope your question was more inquisitive than critical and if I'm over reacting, I apologize.
Glad you made it - so you could be here with us. Swimming with large waves is like trying to swim upstream - harder than it looks. And unlike an undertow, there's nothing "smart" you could have done - other than what you did. Again, glad you made it, sickoflibs and thanks for sharing.
My closest was years ago when I almost froze to death. I was working outside for a few hours with water - 20 below zero (not "feels like/wind chill" stuff. but the real temp) - and my brain shut down from the cold and wet. I was a half mile from home - and am lucky I made it.
I felt giddy, happy, mildly drunk, and stupid. If I could pick a way to die - that would be it.
Those Atlantic rip currents and waves can really be dangerous. I’ve been pretty shaken up a few times too. When you get caught up in the breaking waves and rolled and pounded a few times, it can be very disorienting. You don’t know which way is up, or get knocked over repeatedly and ingest more water on the way. I have a lot of respect for (most) Atlantic beach lifeguards. They have a tough job and really need to be on their toes. Most of them are, fortunately.
thanks!
A high school friend of mine nearly drowned in a swimming pool and he said that, from his perspective, his inhale of water was like flipping a light switch to "off". Everything went black and he recalled nothing until after being revived poolside. IOW, quick and quiet and no one knew anything was wrong till someone, thankfully, noticed him unmoving at the bottom.
I recall Neil Boortz saying he could teach a baby to be water safe in minutes (but the parents would freak in the process). Anyone know the technique?
Upon reflexion it was really bad ; swimming OUT into the waves was easier because I could dive into them, plus I was not tired yet, but coming back tired with them pushing me under over and over was completely different. Even worse is I have little body fat so I have to work to stay a-float so when each wave crashed on me I had difficulty telling which way was back up to air till the water settled, and the next wave pushed me under again. But I forced myself to stay calm rather than panic (as I was thinking of death) and burn my energy that way.
Ping... (THANKS, nully!)
Ping... (THANKS, nully!)
Good article, but don’t forget to search before you post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2548926/posts
My question was inquisitive. I’ve seen people hesitate when another appeared to be in danger and I’ve always wondered why.
As a surfer since 1966 I can confidently say that the way to swim in through large waves is to roll yourself up into a cannonball and let the wave wash you in with it. As soon as you feel it release grab air and take as many strokes in as you can before the next wave, then curl up again. The strokes between waves do not have to be hard, digging strokes, I usually side stroke to conserve energy and keep an eye on the coming wave.
Thanks for the ping!
My better lesson is “Don't try something dangerous I am not prepared for physically. “ Like those beginners that died on Mt Everest in the snow storm because they delayed and didnt turn back.
The thing is I love open water swimming when I am prepared. I love swimming miles almost endlessly without getting tired(I would get sea-sick before tired) . It is a great feeling. At the same time I can see how people drown. It was close.
I literally almost drowned as a kid so I know what they are talking about.
And then in 1993 I did something really stupid. I had a sail boat out in the Bay of San Francisco at end of March and there is one other person on the boat (good thing he could sail).
Anyway we were running downwind in about 22 knots of wind so you have some good wave action (swells with smaller waves on them) and I had the motor out of the well because I wanted to see how fast the boat would go.
Well I was dragging the main sail over to the other side to run ‘wing and wing’ and when the wind caught it it threw me off the boat into the ice cold water and I had no life preserver on. The water is so cold that if you are not used to it that you will gasp for air, and I went down about 10-15 feet. It took everything I had not to gasp and when I came back up for that first breath of air there are those waves slapping me in the face.
I was out in the water for 7 minutes and my friend had to make 2 passes to get a life preserver to me and one pass to get me in the boat (which happened very quick after got the preserver to me) getting on was very difficult because I was exhausted and he could not get the boat to stop because of the high wind so I was being drug along the side of it, but we got me in.
I lost interest in sailing for awhile and sold the boat that autumn. I did still go down to the marina and hang out on the boat while I still had it though ;)
The story is legendary at my workplace out there and they still talk about it even though I left the Bay area in 1997.
I am so glad you were saved and can tell the story.
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