Water Safety

The recent findings by USA swimming showing that drowning is the second leading cause of death among youth 14 and under and that Florida has the highest incidence of drowning of children between the ages of 1-4 has startled me. It seems that after every weekend on the First Coast there has been another unnecessary drowning or near drowning. These incidences can be and should be avoided. I am glad the Clay County YMCAs are reacting to these statistics and events by dubbing July their Aquatics Safety Month.

I have always been a strong swimmer and aquatics safety always seemed a concept I naturally comprehended because of my background. However, it turned out that I was naive when I was actually faced with an incident in my own backyard. I was taking a leisurely swim alone after work. I pushed myself off the side of the wall in the deep end and instantly had a cramp in my calf. The cramp was so bad that I felt paralyzed. I began floundering in the water and luckily a raft was floating nearby that I could grab. The cramp went away after about thirty minutes and I limped for the next nine days, but the memory is still fresh in my mind.