Sad lesson learned again in the US.

Let's hope it doesn't happen here.

DJ

An Orlando man died after falling into Lake Minnehaha while paddle boarding.

Joy Hill of the Florida Wildlife Commission said Ronald Sikorski, 29, of Orlando was pronounced dead at South Lake Hospital.

Lake County Sheriff's deputies found the man around 8:40 p.m. Saturday after he had gone missing while paddle boarding on Lake Minnehaha.

The Lake County Sheriff's Office responded to the area at approximately 6:15 p.m. in response to the report of an adult male who fell off a paddle board and had not resurfaced.

One witness said the man had been out on the water with friends when he suddenly fell off the paddle board, yelled for helped, but then slipped under the water.

Search efforts immediately began with a helicopter, a dive team, Marine Patrol and fire and EMS units.

The man was not wearing a life jacket.

missymoo said..

If you can't swim - why wouldn't you just stick to land sports??

i ask myself this when i work as a lifeguard at rowing, canoeing, dragon boating events

Jarryd

I know MANY surfers who can't swim ! Doesnt make it stupid, just a bit risky in my opinion - each to their own though.

Piros said...

billboard said..

I know MANY surfers who can't swim ! Doesnt make it stupid, just a bit risky in my opinion - each to their own though.

If someone can deal with waves why can't they learn to swim , I can't understand that. IMHO

Im not asking you to understand it - just stating a fact.

Totally agree,due to the odd hours i work i usually sup alone either in the surf or on the flat,although i can swim i always respect the water and conditions on offer.I have been thinking of purchasing a pfd vest any ideas or recommendations of what would be the best for SUP would be appreciated !

Im not saying its ideal being a non swimmer in the surf BUT I know many surfers who cant swim ( as I said earlier)
Being the best swimmer in the world aint gunna mean shlt if your board - - or someone elses knocks you out cold.

More sad news..

DJ

www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/recent-ladue-high-graduate-drowns-in-florida/article_fe2b600c-3cc5-5a7d-acad-3c902c6c937e.html

Being in Florida the water is probably not going to be that cold, but my recollection of an event quite a few years ago may relate to how this man died.

Some Japanese exchange students were playing soccer beside the Aire River in winter. The ball went into the river and two students jumped in to retrieve it. Both apparently went straight under and drowned. The water in this case was very cold, say 10 degrees.

"... In humans, cold shock response is perhaps the most common cause of death from immersion in very cold water, such as by falling through thin ice. The cold water can cause heart attack (as cold blood from the extremities reaches the heart) and inhalation of water (and thus drowning) from hyperventilation...... "

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_shock_response

Whether you can swim or not, this is something to be aware of, especially if teaching non-surfers to SUP in cold water.

Gator?

Leg ropes for any board on the water should be law. Sup's clubby's kayaks anything. If the young 17 year old clubby had been attached to his board who drowned recently in a Gold Coast canal he might have survived. Even Sup's out on flat water should have them because if you do go in at least you are still attached to your board making it easy to find you.

rockmagnet said..Leg ropes for any board on the water should be law.

Please no !
Sure there are some freak occurrences where it would help (like the poor guy up on the gold coast recently), but law enforcement for leg ropes ? No - the cops have got better things to do than chase down bare-ankled suppers. I always wear my leggie, BTW - I'm just not a fan of regulation.

In most cases it's just Darwin's theory at work anyway. If you SUP/surf but can't swim, I reckon that's the equivalent of jumping off a building without a parachute. Eventually it's not going to end well.

and yet another..

Here.. http://www.kcra.com/man-drowns-at-tahoe-after-falling-off-paddleboard/-/11798090/21694772/-/68uifd/-/index.html?fb_action_ids=10201694861002969&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210201694861002969%22%3A423549327765520%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210201694861002969%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

DJ

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. Authorities say a 42-year-old California man drowned at Lake Tahoe after falling off a paddleboard.

Kenneth Campo of San Mateo was 200 to 300 yards offshore at Sand Harbor State Park when he fell in the water Friday afternoon.

Nevada Department of Wildlife spokesman Edwin Lyngar says the paddleboard was equipped with a life jacket and foot leash, but Campo wore neither.

Lyngar tells the Nevada Appeal that an employee from a rental company retrieved Campo from about 20 feet underwater.

Emergency responders were unsuccessful in trying to resuscitate him. Campo was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Just seen the Tahoe incident on another page myself, and having paddled on Tahoe at that same location, I'm puzzled as to how someone can drown at such a safe haven. If the paddler were nervous or concerned about falling in, I'm pretty sure they would have worn the pfd and leash provided, and how far away from your board do you normally fall on flat water - such that you could not grab it and use it as flotation.
I sometimes wonder if some pr-existing medical condition is to balme in some of these "drowning" cases. Sad none the less that someone lost their life in such a beautiful place, taking part in such an anazing activity.

JasonProsser said..

Just seen the Tahoe incident on another page myself, and having paddled on Tahoe at that same location, I'm puzzled as to how someone can drown at such a safe haven. If the paddler were nervous or concerned about falling in, I'm pretty sure they would have worn the pfd and leash provided, and how far away from your board do you normally fall on flat water - such that you could not grab it and use it as flotation.
I sometimes wonder if some pr-existing medical condition is to balme in some of these "drowning" cases. Sad none the less that someone lost their life in such a beautiful place, taking part in such an anazing activity.

A board can get away from you very easily. If you fall backwards, your motion is likely to project the board forwards. I was paddling on glass once but on a very tippy board and an unexpected boat wake caused me to fall. The board ended up about 10 metres away and the residual boat wake swept it away faster than I could swim to catch it. Ended up being a longer swim than I might have liked, especially in cold water. Remember, hypothermia only takes about 15 minutes to kick in.

Not another sup death.. Good ending on this one..

DJ

Beachgoers pulled a surfer from the ocean and administered CPR after the unidentified man apparently suffered a serious injury.

The victim was pulled from the ocean at the borough's Neptune Place beach by a Good Samaritan who witnessed the accident at about 2:20 p.m.

Eric Hoblitzell was riding a stand up paddle board when he said he saw the victim wipe out head-first into the break.

"I heard a snap. It was a sickening sound," Hoblitzel, 33, a former Belmar lifeguard said.

"I ditched my board and rushed over to him, he was face down in the water. I screamed for someone to call 911 and began CPR right away," he said.

Sea Girt Police Capt. Kevin Davenport confirmed that a male paddle boarder and a woman on the beach administered CPR to the man before lifeguards, who were not on the beach, and a doctor arrived and took over first aid.

The man's vital signs stabilized and he was transported to Jersey Shore Medical Center. The surfer's condition was not immediately known, according to police.

First SUP lesson was with 1 guide, myself and 2 others that were both from somewhere in India and did not really learn to swim- one lives over here now however they both were unconfident swimmers.
While we did have the type of PFD that you had to manually blow up, none of us had them up, mainly was used so other water users can see us, one guy fell in and panicked straight away and although his board was just behind him he decided to head to the guide that was about 3mtrs away.

I believe that everyone deserves the right to enjoy the water but accidents do happen (even to fantastic swimmers) and you should learn to do your own risk assessment however not everyone knows or understands how to do these or how easily things can change.
After thinking about this it easy to say that the guide should not have been put in this predicament (not by the clients) and again hindsight is mostly 20/20. I am just glad that our teaching standards are good although it can be easy to take things for granted.