Two Drown in Ardrossan Reservoir

Craig1981

Craig1981

Craig1981

Soldato
Joined
2 Feb 2011
Posts
13,693
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-23584818

This happened not that far away from where I live. I dont live in Ardrossan, but the town I do live in is fairly close by.

Two young men, Ross Munn, 17, from Ardrossan, and Sean Marshall, 20, from Saltcoats, drowned while swimming in the resevoir. It really shocks me that despite how many people have drowned in circumstances like this, it doesn't seem to put people off doing it. Terrible waste of two young lives. Can only imagine how their families must be feeling right now :(
 
Diagro said:
How do you drown in a large pool of water?
Click to expand...

Apparantly quite easily. From the article:

"It may look calm on the surface, but there may be strong undercurrents,"

"The water can also be very cold and deep, and there are often sudden drops and underwater obstacles and undergrowth that you cannot see, causing even the strongest of swimmers to get into difficulty very easily."
 
Diagro said:
How do you drown in a large pool of water?
Click to expand...

One - Just because it's warm doesn't mean the water is warm, if it's deep which most reservoirs are it can still be near freezing below the surface.

Two - Weeds/Vegetation can tangle you and cause you to panic

Three - Reservoirs despite appearing still can have dangerous undercurrents which even strong swimmers will struggle in.
 
lakes and reservoirs can be very cold depending on how they are fed. after rainfall i think they are colder too with the fresh water dumped in them

i've done a bit of open water swimming and even with a wetsuit you can get cold quick if you are not moving, then you tire etc
best to stick to well known areas for swimming and always wear a wet suit. if you're not sure don't go in
 
Such a shame that so many people seem to find themselves in trouble swimming outdoors when the weather is hot.

It doesn't say much in the details, but I can't say that I would ever go swimming near a dam. There are often 'trickle release', or 'overflow' outlets, which while not massively affecting the amount of water leaving the dam, could easily cause currents which would cause even the strongest swimmer problems.

While the temperature of reservoirs can be affected by the temperature of water flowing into them, I think is fairly safe to say the the temperature at this time of year would not have been anywhere near freezing, even deep down. You would have to be in the water for a very long time (during the summer) for temperature to be the main cause of drowning, unless you were a very poor swimmer. Underwater currents, or getting caught on objects below the water would feature much higher up my list of hazardous, especially at this time of year.

But I would suspect that the number one 'hazard' is alcohol!

It's a shame, because it is perfectly possible to swim safely in lots of places - but too many people lack the knowledge and experience to reasonably assess the dangers.
 
Last edited:
Diagro said:
How do you drown in a large pool of water?
Click to expand...

quite easily I would imagine it doesn't take much water to enter your lungs before you start panicking and struggling to breath at all.

try and breath in a bottle cap full of water ;) don't blame me if you die though.

I was once drinking out of a bottle and my older brother said something which made me laugh , it caused me to breath in some water just a small amount but enough to block my airway and leave me struggling for 20seconds with my brother whacking me on the back which just made it worse.

I don't know how people can find people drowning funny ,I can only imagine how horrifying the experience must be.

Don't let those people fool you who claim it's a peaceful death anyone who has ever choked on anything will no it's not going to be tranquil
 
Seems odd that a couple of people swimming in a lake just drown. I mean, people swim in lakes all the time, I do that all the time. I have a little inflatable boat I take out every weekend in the summer, out on the lakes by myself and jump off to cool down and see endless families with kids swimming. Its a lake, not a flooding river or a surf beach with a strong riptide. People that can swim just don't drown like that in a lake. My understanding is that the reservoir is also disused so there shouldn't by a strong outflow.


I don't want to speak ill of he dead or seem so shallow but from their photos they are a right pair of NEDs. There is a well observed correlation between social-economic status and swimming ability (much peer reviewed empirical evidence) - poorer people tend not to go to the swimming pool so often, don't pay for lessons, don't go on holidays to places with pools or warm seas so much, and a more likely to do other activities in spare time (quick game of soccer with mater rather than a 1hr workout at the pool).

Pretty sure this was a contributing factor, NEDs that never really learned to swim properly jumping into deep water when it was hot for a laugh and then realizing they can't really swim/touch the bottom.

Certainly when I was at school none of the NEDs could swim at all. Funny to see all the "hard" chavs that would bull us being forced to wear armbands and life vests while the middle class kids swam races.
 
Last edited:
D.P. said:
Seems odd that a couple of people swimming in a lake just drown. I mean, people swim in lakes all the time, I do that all the time.
Click to expand...

div0 said:
But I would suspect that the number one 'hazard' is alcohol!

It's a shame, because it is perfectly possible to swim safely in lots of places - but too many people lack the knowledge and experience to reasonably assess the dangers.
Click to expand...

I would be very surprised if it wasn't linked to this.

Even if alcohol didn't affect your ability to swim, it still affects your ability to assess the dangers. People end up making bad decisions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom