Children should learn to swim at school: This is what Andreas Dörner from the Freising Water Rescue demands.
Because the deficits of the children are alarming.
Freising
- Last weekend alone, three people drowned while bathing in Bavaria.
In the Wörther Weiher (Erding district), for example, a good swimmer simply drowned next to her friend - she was rescued, reanimated, but died shortly afterwards in the hospital.
In Freising, two children almost drowned in the fresch.
We spoke to Andreas Dörner from the Freising Water Rescue Service about the dangers of bathing and the - limited - possibilities of the rescuers.
He demands: "Swimming belongs in school".
And makes it clear: In order to keep an eye on everything at a bathing lake like the Stoibermühle, the water rescue service would need 20 volunteers - but they do not currently have them.
Mr. Dörner, have the swimming accidents in Freising sharpened or changed your view of the bathing industry? Are you now keeping an even closer eye on the children?
No, that doesn't change our work at the Stoibermühle guard station.
Our goal was and always is to keep an eye on everything.
But with 2000 or 3000 bathers this is simply not possible.
We do our best - but no one hundred percent guarantee of safety.
That simply does not work.
For this we would need 20 people at the Stoibermühle - 20 volunteers, mind you.
How big is your guard team?
We are present on weekends and on public holidays.
That doesn't work during the week, we are all volunteers.
There are at least four of us: a guard, a lifeguard, a paramedic and a boat operator.
But there are often a few more water watchers there.
Is it then safer in the outdoor pool than at the lake?
In fact, I think so.
The water areas in the outdoor pool are simply more manageable than an extensive bathing lake.
But even a lifeguard cannot keep an eye on everything.
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First aid is part of everyday life for rescuers: Georg Buchmeier and Anna-Maria Lenz demonstrated resuscitation after a swimming accident as part of an exercise in 2019.
© Archive: Lehmann
Swimmers have just dropped their seahorses or their bronze badge at the Freising fresch. The latter confirms that you can actually swim unsupervised. Also at a swimming lake
?
I would be very careful about that.
Parents must always keep an eye on children.
A badge is of no use if a child swims far out and suddenly runs out of strength.
However, this can happen to anyone, including an experienced adult swimmer.
Nobody is immune from having a cramp far outside, feeling dizzy, or suddenly losing strength.
Is that why more and more swimmers have an airbag, board or air mattress with them? You are on the safe side with that.
Actually, none of that helps if you can't swim safely.
An air mattress only conveys a false sense of security.
It's okay if a good swimmer uses them to take a break.
But the ability to swim endurance is by no means a substitute for a mattress.
The ability to swim persistently - but that is exactly what fewer and fewer children have.
Yes, that is an alarming trend - and the problem has not only existed since Corona, but for several years.
It may be that the pandemic and the canceled swimming courses have exacerbated that.
We won't see the full extent of the misery for a few years.
Now the non-swimmer children are still in the care of their parents.
But once they hit puberty, they still can't swim and they probably won't learn to swim anymore.
A 14-year-old no longer takes a swimming course - that's too embarrassing for him.
Then comes peer pressure when bathing.
Everyone goes swimming - and then it really becomes life-threatening.
What to do, Mr. Dörner?
Swimming belongs in school.
The children should not learn basketball, but swimming - that can save lives.
Unfortunately, everything is very complicated for us and everyone is concerned about one hundred percent protection.
Nobody wants to take on responsibility anymore.
When my daughter took part in a swimming group in the second grade, the teacher asked me if I would not go into the pool with them.
I did that too, but swimming lessons at school are not really the parents' job.
But I cannot teach the children to swim from the edge of the pool.
You have to get into the water.
However, that is my personal opinion, not that of the water watch.
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