Cruisemonkey wrote:
I suppose, in grief, it is natural to seek to blame (without thought).

Condolences.

That. Every time we report on a death/arrest, family and friends seem to somehow blame us, so yeah, it's just grieving.

But like Hayes said, the man was 21 years old. He himself is the only one responsible for deciding if he should enter the river or not, whether he can swim or not.





Reminds me of being at the pool in a Siem Reap hotel last month. I was on my phone (shocking, I know) and some fat fucking Australian does a cannon ball into the pool, sending a tsunami wave onto me and my beloved phone. I was livid! But only for a split second, until I realised I was the stupid fucker who brought my phone to the pool. What did I think would happen? So in times of mourning/emergency it's easy to start pointing fingers, but not usually logical.

P.S. My phone survived, although a bit traumatized by the whole incident.

anyone that cant swim, has no reason to go into the open water. with or without a life-vest/water wings etc without adult supervision.

see how long u cant float on ur back, bet its not more than 10 minutes in open water
to get my dive master u need stay afloat 30 minutes in open water, ( staying in one place without swmining), it was NOT easy

phuketrichard wrote:anyone that cant swim, has no reason to go into the open water. with or without a life-vest/water wings etc without adult supervision.

see how long u cant float on ur back, bet its not more than 10 minutes in open water
to get my dive master u need stay afloat 30 minutes in open water, ( staying in one place without swmining), it was NOT easy

Pardon my ignorance, but what happens after about 10 mins? I assume if you're floating, you'll stay floating, no?

I got my Open Water cert. I learned a bunch of nothing, and can't wait to get the next one, as I hear it's a lot more serious.

One of my scariest near death moments happened in a river.

We were "diving" through underwater tunnels where you just had to hold your breath, go under, and let the current push you through. Some were easy, and some required you had to at least navigate a little.

After going through a bunch that were super easy, I decided I'd try the one in the deeper faster currents. Made it through a bunch of times, and I thought I saw another tunnel down there and decided I'd give it a try.

Went down, swam hard to the left where I had seen what I thought was a "tunnel of light", but when I got up to where it was, it was a hole way too small for my melon head. So there I was, trapped between 2 flat rocks with my head jammed and current pushing the rest of me in the WRONG direction. I panicked. I realised I couldn't go forward, so the only hope I had was to grind along sideways/backwards to the regular exit. Luckily adrenaline kicked in though. I know you're wondering if I lived or died...Well, I lived! Made it back to the main tunnel and got pushed out. That breath of air was orgasmic. I waited a long while and finally went through the normal way again just to make sure I hadn't scared myself away from the water.

Water, especially one with a current, is nothing to take lightly, even if you're a good swimmer, but to get in a river without being able to swim is just asking for big trouble.