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_ WILD SWIMMERS MESSAGE BOARD
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| Tue Nov 4 14:48:08 UTC 2008 [79]
Name: David Gallico Email: dg.lordofmordor@gmail.com Subject: Flares. Our old 'friends' at the MCA (Maritime and Coastguards Agency) have been up to their tricks again. You may recall they recently tried to prevent the Hope Cove volunteer lifeboat from being launched to perform a rescue, because of 'health and safety' concerns and confiscated the boat after their dictat had been ignored, and are threatening disciplinary action against the volunteer crew. Their latest 'pearl of wisdom', is to ban coastguards from using flares in rescue missions after they were ruled a risk to 'health and safety' (despite having been used since the first world war) following a review earlier this year which found no 'sound operational reason' for their continued use, claiming that 'operational pyrotechnics' were outdated and rarely deployed because of modern alternatives. They say that the devices, used to illuminate large areas of land and sea during night-time searches, could cause'considerable injury'. Rescue teams have been told to use 'safer' alternatives, such as torches and night-vision goggles during land based cliff and beach rescues. All 400 coastguard rescue teams have until the end of the year to use up their stock of flares, or hand them over to the Ministry of Defence for disposal. Volunteers, however, claim the decision will put lives at risk. One crewman said (and I agree with him 100%) "This is the most stupid, ignorant thing I've heard of. Flares light up the entire sky and aid rescue missions --- something that obviously can't be done with a hand-held torch." An MCA spokesman said that he was unaware of any incidents in which coastguard personnel had been injured through using flares. But he added, "We have suggested withdawing the flares after a consultation with coastguard teams showed that they were not being used. Flares will, however, still be used by the RNLI and by the Coastguard's ten vessels which operate in conjunction with the RNLI. Whilst I accept that flares have a potential to cause serious injury, if misused, surely this could be avoided by proper training, especially as current rules require at least one volunteer in each boat to be certified in their use. As usual, however, in the name of health and safety, the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater! Rec 0 Page 1 |
| Tue Nov 4 14:41:09 UTC 2008 [78]
Name: David Gallico Email: dg.lordofmordor@gmail.com Subject: Steel gates and barbed wire at Dinton. This is absolutely appalling behaviour: who do these people think they are? Alas, athis sort of thing appears to be all too common amongst the angling community, a lot of whom seem to think that they have a sole right to use our rivers to the exclusion of everyone else. What is needed is for the law to be ammended in this area, so that freedom of access to rivers is available for all water users, not an elite few. Interestingly, on Central News recently it was reported that an allotment holder in Bromsgrove, who had been plagued with theft and vandalism, put up a barbed wire fence. However, the local council, who owned the allotments, made him take it down as there was a risk of injury to said intruders, and the council were afraid of being sued for compensation, if this should happen. So why haven't this angling club been ordered to remove their barbed wire? Don't the same laws apply to them? Rec 1 Page 1 |
| Mon Oct 27 16:35:11 UTC 2008 [77]
Name: Rob Fryer, chair RALSA Email: wildswim@talk21.com Subject: Access barred at Dinton Tonight, or maybe in a day or so, there will be a news item on ITV West featuring the steel gate and barbed wire preventing access to Daniels Hatches, a well known traditional swimming spot, at Dinton,on the Nadder west of Salisbury. It will also feature swimming at Heytesbury Mill Pool. Rec 2 Page 1 |
| Sun Oct 19 2008 19:15:40 GMT+0100 (BST) [76]
Name: Carl Reynolds Email: carlreynolds@btopenworld.com Subject: water quality For rivers go to http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/maps/info/river/ and type in the postcode. Gives you a good breakdown of biological and chemical issues. Rec 3 Page 1 |
| Fri Oct 17 20:23:11 UTC+0100 2008 [75]
Name: Yacov Lev Email: yacovlev@hotmail.com Subject: Clean water This is in reply to Jason's message. Your first port of call is the local Environment Agency office. They should have the information as the lake is (was) used for other water sports and even tri events (http://www.tri247.com/event_3931.html). Failing that either the owners or the local authority may be able to help. The Council and other public bodies have a duty to disclose the information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Personally, if the water looks clean and inviting, there is no industrial/human waste running into it and there is abundance of healthy wildlife I would consider it safe. However, if you are the type who catches a cold when someone sneezes in Calcutta then you may catch something from the water even if officially it meets quality standards - you have to decide. As for 'others' (fishermen?)warning you, I agree with Pete. Rec 4 Page 1 |
| Thu Oct 16 2008 22:31:17 GMT+0100 (GMT Daylight Time) [74]
Name: Wildswimmer Pete Email: Subject: Water quality Easy answer Jason, just inform those people (as politely or otherwise as necessary) to go away and leave you alone. That's what I do. If you wanted to swim in a vat of raw sewage that's your choice and nobody else's' business (well, I suppose it would be but you know what I mean!) I've swum outdoors for nearly 40 years and have never been ill as a result, even in my younger days when our rivers and lakes were nowhere as clean as now. Rec 5 Page 1 |
| Thu Oct 16 20:31:28 UTC+0100 2008 [73]
Name: Jason stott Email: stottjss@aol.com Subject: clean water please can someone point me in the right direction for a website that checks the quality of water in some of the swimming lakes in the nortwest area. I swim at boundry waterpark on the a50 and i am forever getting grief from none outdoor swimmers on the quality of the water. i would like to shut them up once and for all. Rec 6 Page 1 |
| Sat Oct 04 2008 12:13:15 GMT+0100 (GMT Daylight Time) [72]
Name: Wildswimmer Pete Email: Subject: Water Temps My 2008 water temps now updated to 3/10: http://hometown.aol.co.uk/Wildswimmer007/2008watertemps.htm Rec 7 Page 1 |
| Thu Oct 2 14:32:25 UTC+0100 2008 [71]
Name: David Gallico Email: dg.lordofmordor@gmail.com Subject: Pool Closures There are a number of rather depressing reports by correspondants to the Swimclub website concerning pool closures at the present time. It seems that Waveney District Council want to close the last 2 remaining open air pools in Suffolk, at Beccles and Halesworth, North Somerset Council have voted to close the Portishead Open Air Swimming Pool: people were still swimming in it, as the last day of 2008 season was the end of September. Meanwhile, Camarthenshire Council have given notice that they intend to fill in the Hendy Lido on October 27th unless the Hendy Pool Committee can produce a rescue plan by October 17th. (Hendy Lido closed in 2002). The Hilsea Lido (the deepest lido in the coutry that is still open) has almost certainly had its last season. Thus the situation is that there are less than 100 open air public outdoor pools in Britain now, so the loss of another four is significant and with Hendy Lido due to be filled in and the Council in Bath wanting to sell off the Cleveland Pools, that will be another two pools off the potentially re-openable list. Meanwhile, Ilford Pool in the London Borough of Redbridge looks set to close in September, not December; this will mean only one public pool for approximately 250,000 residents. Derbyshire Dales District Council have agreed to consult on the future of Matlock "Lido", but the nearest re-opening date is likely to be February 2009 (The pool closed in July and the Matlock and District Swimming Club say they are losing a £1000 a month). Thus, as more pools close, there is a strain on neighbouring pools, as is happening in the Fylde/Blackpool area. And yet, swimming in rivers and lakes is frowned upon by the 'authorities', who seem to consider such an activity to be on a par with paedophilia, the same 'authorities' who frequently express surprise and concern at the level of obesity and general unfitness in the population! Rec 8 Page 1 |
| 1 October 2008 [70]
Name: Jay Edmond Email: info@ecostinger.com Subject: sun protection swimwear Hi, we produce and distribute sun protection swimwear. your site about outdoor swimming is a perfect site for sun safety customers. we are open to any suggestion or cooperation to offer our products. we are happy to donate a free kids sunsuit if you can add our link... Rec 9 Page 1 |
| Sun Sep 07 2008 16:08:54 GMT+0100 (GMT Daylight Time) [69]
Name: Wildswimmer Pete Email: Subject: Cold Water and Heart Attacks This is a difficult question and needs to be answered by your GP. I had a heart attack in 2001 which resulted in a loss of cardiac muscle and the threat of continued deterioration. I commenced full cold-acclimatisation training a couple of years later with the result that I can now swim in water quite literally at freezing point. However my cold-training was done under medical supervision, and as a bonus has put my heart condition into remission. The major danger is cold-shock, and 10*C is the point where water becomes dangerously cold. 1.)You should only swim head-up breast in order to keep your head dry. 2) Always wear a thick swim-cap or a woolly hat. 3) One of the cold-shock responses (increase in heart rate,increase in BP and hyperventilation) is triggered by, amongst other things, the hands going into cold water. So always wear neoprene gloves (and boots). Check out our "Winter Swimming" page and remember........check with your medical advisers first. Rec 10 Page 1 |
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