> was struggling to both swim and hold their child above water
Rescuing active drowning victims (this kind of drowning) is very dangerous, for that reason. The victim won't just hold you, they'll climb you. And keep climbing until their head and shoulders are out of the water. Because your combined bodies have finite buoyancy this means you go down. The victim doesn't have to be big to push you under. It is nothing to do with strength at all, and nothing to do with how strong a swimmer you are. I defy any strong swimmer to tread water for more than a couple of seconds with a 6 year old on their shoulders.
So a lifeguard without a flotation device has to approach victims very differently. Normally from behind, where they can't be climbed. Their aim is to get the victims head only just above the water. The victim is panicked, and won't like that one bit. Some of the rescues in the video aren't that great for that reason: the lifeguard doesn't keep the buoy between them and the victim, putting them one slip of the buoy away from a possible double drowning.
I've heard LGTIs tell students that in extreme cases they should wait for the victim to go passive (lose consciousness) before a rescue, if they can't approach safely. I'd never teach that, because it is unnecessarily callous and easy to misinterpret. But as a rescuer you do have to be prepared to swim down to get the victim to release you. Being safe around a drowning person is hard, and most lifeguard trainees massively overrate their swimming power in that situation. That's why there are so many multiple drownings.
> I was surprised that this person could switch from swimming to drowning so quickly.
That's a really good point. It is surprising how folks you mark as being 'okay swimmers' can change immediately something goes wrong. I think it is the power of that instinct. I don't know how many people gradually get into difficulty, then begin drowning. It's rare, I think. More common something in their brain switches from 'in control' to 'panic' and the body takes over.
> Rescuing active drowning victims (this kind of drowning) is very dangerous, for that reason. The victim won't just hold you, they'll climb you.
My only save as a lifeguard was a double for this very reason: the drowning kid's older brother jumped in to save him, and they both went under as the younger one scrambled for air.
"Good thing I jumped in after you, huh?" said the older brother, after I dragged them to the side. I wanted to punch him.
I watched a bunch more and now I feel better able to spot them just by looking for the swimming style. Seeing people go from ok to drowning is something I wouldn't recognize without having watched these.
Rescuing active drowning victims (this kind of drowning) is very dangerous, for that reason. The victim won't just hold you, they'll climb you. And keep climbing until their head and shoulders are out of the water. Because your combined bodies have finite buoyancy this means you go down. The victim doesn't have to be big to push you under. It is nothing to do with strength at all, and nothing to do with how strong a swimmer you are. I defy any strong swimmer to tread water for more than a couple of seconds with a 6 year old on their shoulders.
So a lifeguard without a flotation device has to approach victims very differently. Normally from behind, where they can't be climbed. Their aim is to get the victims head only just above the water. The victim is panicked, and won't like that one bit. Some of the rescues in the video aren't that great for that reason: the lifeguard doesn't keep the buoy between them and the victim, putting them one slip of the buoy away from a possible double drowning.
I've heard LGTIs tell students that in extreme cases they should wait for the victim to go passive (lose consciousness) before a rescue, if they can't approach safely. I'd never teach that, because it is unnecessarily callous and easy to misinterpret. But as a rescuer you do have to be prepared to swim down to get the victim to release you. Being safe around a drowning person is hard, and most lifeguard trainees massively overrate their swimming power in that situation. That's why there are so many multiple drownings.
> I was surprised that this person could switch from swimming to drowning so quickly.
That's a really good point. It is surprising how folks you mark as being 'okay swimmers' can change immediately something goes wrong. I think it is the power of that instinct. I don't know how many people gradually get into difficulty, then begin drowning. It's rare, I think. More common something in their brain switches from 'in control' to 'panic' and the body takes over.