Safety refresher: cold water and what it does
The river is at eight degrees. At that temperature the first thing that happens to somebody in the water is not cold, it is an involuntary gasp, and the swimming everybody assumes they can do comes several minutes later, if at all.
The rules until the water warms
- No single sculls without a launch on the water
- Crews stay within sight of the bank
- Everybody signs out, including the coaches
- If you capsize, stay with the boat — it floats and you are easier to see
None of this is new and none of it is negotiable until the river warms up. The one change this season is that the sign-out book lives on the wall by the doors rather than in the office, so there is no excuse involving a locked room.
The safety briefing runs again on the last Sunday of the month for anyone who has not sat through it, and for anyone who has and would rather sit through it than test the alternative.
Tags: safety, club