Swim safety | Imogen's River Swims

Outdoor swimming can be safe and fun for all, if we assess the risks and avoid them with some simple steps. It is important to realise it is different from swimming in a pool, though. This article looks at the issues and gives some information.

See also a Q&A with key info on swimming safely on this website, and the Outdoor Swimming Society’s Top 10 tips for summer safety.

Women and children in river in summer, one woman holding a small child’s hand, other children splashing in the shallow water — Families and children having fun in the River Thames in summer

Why talk about outdoor swimming safety?

In the heat of summer you can find many families, children and groups of young people swimming and enjoying the water, for example at St Helens in Thetford Forest.

But for many of us nowadays swimming outdoors in rivers or lakes is unfamiliar: we have been encouraged for the past 50 or so years to swim in life guarded swimming pools instead. Or we only swim in warm calm seas on holidays abroad.

So even if someone is a strong swimmer in pools and calm seas, they can get into difficulties in rivers or lakes.

Most people swim outdoors safely, but not understanding how different it can be can lead them to panic or get into difficulties, and at worst can lead to tragic loss of life.

How can we make sure outdoor swimming is safe?

Some landowners, organisations and concerned individuals want to ban swimming outdoors, but that doesn’t solve anything as young people will find places to swim, whether in the open or in forbidden places (discussed here (Wild Swimming) and here (Hung out to Dry)).

Other landowners take a more pragmatic approach, including putting helpful signs at popular swimming spots explaining how to swim outdoors safely. Download text of Carding Mill safe swimming sign (Word.doc, 1 page)

sign with text giving advice about safe swimming, text available here https://twitdoc.com/6YTW — Carding Mill safe swimming sign

And others give good practical advice, such as the Lake District, on their website.

The Visitor Safety Group brings together landowners that seek to balance access and minimal barriers for visitors with safety as explained in its Guiding Principles, chapter 2 of detailed guidance, ‘Managing Visitor Safety in the Countryside: Principles and Practice’

RoSPA’s ‘Managing safety at inland waters guidance’ explains the law and gives practical guidance to landowners.

The Outdoor Swimming Society has published this wonderful guide to access to inland beaches, with advice for landowners & managers, and anyone who wants to see more swimming in lakes, rivers, and other inland waters. Read about and download the OSS Guide to Inland Bathing Areas.

I am keen to encourage outdoor swimming with an understanding of keeping yourself safe, so am leading on a new project about outdoor swimming in the Brecks, Healing Waters, which is part of The Brecks Fen Edge & Rivers Landscape Partnership Scheme (BFER), supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project will include training sessions to introduce people of all ages and families to outdoor swimming safely and working with landowners to look at access to swim places in the Breckland area.

I suggest that we can all learn how to swim, and how to swim safely outdoors. We should take children when young to the water and teach them this, so they know how to stay safe and have fun.

Those of us who have become familiar with swimming in rivers and lakes, and have learnt how to assess the possible risks and how to cope with them, can pass this on.

In summary: assess the risks – cold, obstructions, currents – and avoid them being a problem by knowing how to get into the water, knowing when and where to get out, and what to do if you run into problems.

There’s lots of helpful advice and info available on swimming websites – see links below (and throughout).

Here’s my safe outdoor swimming checklist:

Be aware of the cold – don’t jump in; don’t stay until you are very cold; swim close to shore so you can get out if you get cold; get dry and warm quickly after your swim; be aware of ‘afterdrop’
walk into the water: don’t jump or dive until you’ve checked for obstructions and the depth and know how cold it is
know where you can get out of the water, especially if there is a current
look out for obstructions – rocks, logs, weeds – and avoid them
check whether the water is clean and take precautions
look out for boats, avoid them, make sure they see and avoid you
wear shoes to swim to protect your feet and make you feel more comfortable
check for currents – if a river will wash you downstream make sure you know where you can get out further downstream, or if swimming across the river swim up against the current first and let it send you down
avoid weirs
be careful in waterfalls
don’t swim alone
if you can’t swim well don’t go in water out of your depth
supervise non-swimmers, weak swimmers or young children
if you feel panicky and are having trouble breathing, breathe out slowly and try to relax
don’t let others persuade you to do something you don’t feel is safe for you
don’t mix alcohol and swimming
if you see someone in trouble in the river, here’s what to do: call for help, throw a rope or similar, and only go in to rescue them if you are trained (as a drowning person can pull you under with surprising strength).