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| photo: Google images |
This summer’s two drownings in Ontario's Algonquin Park punctuate a
long standing issue with youth canoe trips and summer camps: the swim test.
On July 4, a 15 year old Jeremiah Perry ‘went under’ and did
not resurface while standing in waist deep water (or ‘swimming’ with his group,
depending on the news report) with the rest of his high school outdoor ed canoe
trip group. He, like everyone else in his group, was not wearing a life jacket at
the time.
Two teachers and ‘outdoor education specialists’ were present and supervising, yet the student’s body was not found until the next day. Initial reports stated that all students on the trip would have passed a ‘strict’ swimming test (link here), but in the end it was confirmed by the school board that this student, and 16 others, did not pass the swim test but were allowed on the trip regardless (details on this are still unfolding, link here). A criminal investigation is underway, as is a coroner’s report pending, which will surely make some waves with high school canoe trip programs. The Ontario Ministry of Education has already commented on this situation, with more to come (link here). Google search ‘Jeremiah Perry’ to find the latest headlines. Our condolences go out to the family, friends and staff involved.
Two teachers and ‘outdoor education specialists’ were present and supervising, yet the student’s body was not found until the next day. Initial reports stated that all students on the trip would have passed a ‘strict’ swimming test (link here), but in the end it was confirmed by the school board that this student, and 16 others, did not pass the swim test but were allowed on the trip regardless (details on this are still unfolding, link here). A criminal investigation is underway, as is a coroner’s report pending, which will surely make some waves with high school canoe trip programs. The Ontario Ministry of Education has already commented on this situation, with more to come (link here). Google search ‘Jeremiah Perry’ to find the latest headlines. Our condolences go out to the family, friends and staff involved.
Just four days later, a staff member at an Algonquin Park
lodge, Arowhon Pines, drowned. The Ministry of Labour (MOL) is investigating
this one, which means there is a total lock down on information (link here). My contacts with the local EMS indicate the drowning occurred while doing a
mandatory pre-season swim test.
Two in one season is not unprecedented. This is a replay of
2007, when a student at Boundless Adventures drowned while doing a pre-canoe
trip swim test, and an 18 year old staff member at Camp Tamakwa drowned while
doing a swim test (commented on previously on this blog here).
Do you see the thread through all of these? Four drownings,
all tied to a swim test?
There are many things to pull apart here but let me stick to
three key points:
1: All four of the above drownings were directly supervised,
at least three of which I can confirm were overseen by trained life guards (the
recent Perry drowning is still undetermined as to supervisor qualifications). In
all cases, eyes were directly on, or supposed to be on, the swimmer who
drowned. In the Perry and Boundless Adventures drownings it took several hours
and even days to locate the body after the fact. Life guard training does not
prepare supervisors for the dark, tannin waters of Canadian Shield/Algonquin
Park lakes and rivers. The fact is, there is no visibility more than 3 feet
under water. Stand waist deep in any Algonquin lake and you can’t see your
feet. Dive off a dock and you disappear from view. Life guards are trained in
pools or for beach oriented waterfront facilities, with clear water and site
based response procedures. This does not work in dark water. ‘Life guarding’ a
wilderness lake is completely different and calls for a total rethink of how to
manage a group in dark water and how to respond to a submerged victim. There is
a long way to go on this.
2: Swim tests are misguided. I lead canoe trips. I don’t
care if my participants can tread water for 60 seconds or swim 50 meters (which
is the Ont. Physical Health Educators recommended test, employed, and failed,
by students in the recent Perry drowning, link here). The real issue is will a person freak out when they purposely or unexpectedly
go under water? For kids who have only been in a clear pool, the dark water,
waves, and distant horizon of a big lake create vertigo for even experienced swimmers. In all
of the four cases above, the individuals purposely entered the water with the intention
to swim (in three of the four cases discussed here, the individuals had the
ability to swim). Swimming ability is not the issue. Disorientation is the
greater factor that any ‘swim test’ should be assessing. This cannot be tested
in a nice, warm, pool.
3: Life jackets. The whole swim test thing becomes moot if
participants are always wearing a life jacket. People do not drown on flatwater
canoe trips with a life jacket on. I believe that for urban youth, they need to
be on at all times one is near, in, or on the water. Period. This would make
points 1 and 2 above irrelevant. No swim test is needed if life jackets are
always on. No one will drown. I view this 'rule' as variable for more skilled participant groups, but for youth I see no compelling argument to not wear a life jacket at all times.
There is much more going on in these particular cases, but here is my take away: drowning is totally preventable
with life jackets. It completely offsets the challenges of supervising swimmers
in dark water. As for a swim test, the greater test is for freaking out, which
can’t be tested in a pool. Wear a life jacket instead.