Overview

• The Wasserschutzpolizei Hessen warns that strong currents, whirlpools, sudden depth changes and ship suction turn river swims lethal even for practiced swimmers.
• The Regierungspräsidium Darmstadt’s mining authority cautions that steep banks, submerged machinery and underwater slope collapses in non-designated gravel pit lakes can trigger fatal cold shock.
• Officials urge bathers to stick to officially appointed, lifeguard-manned sites after noting that rescues in unsupervised areas often arrive too late.
• DLRG data indicates that 20 percent of children enter secondary school without basic swimming skills and that last year’s 411 drownings marked a three-year high.
• Technicians from Kreiswasserwacht Ebersberg report that athletic men over 40 have drowned unexpectedly due to exhaustion, cramps or solitary swimming.