This has reference to the news “…two boys drown…” (front page Herald, Monday 23rd March). What a tragedy, and a waste of young vibrant lives with everything
to live for… It always seems to be boys that drown on picnics on hot days like we’ve had this week in Goa… and especially now the exams are over for many students.
As a tourist coming to Goa for many years now, I make an effort to teach as many people as I can to float (floating without any movements whatsoever), whether they be young or old, male or female… because floating is what can save them, not swimming. Panic (in deep water where they cannot touch the bottom) is what makes boys like these drown… and the technique of floating is to relax, like lying on a bed, no matter how deep the water is. Everyone can float, if they only tried. I swim from beach to beach, in deep sea and sometimes through huge waves, but do you think I would dare do this if I could not float, relax, do nothing, and regain my energy for further swimming? Of course not.
Many mothers warn their boys not to venture into the sea or river… and so drownings occur because their boys have never learned to be safe in water. If they go with a responsible adult who can teach them to float first, gain confidence in deep water, and then to swim, then tragedies like this one would be less likely to arise.
My sincere condolences to the families of these boys… I expect they will think their warnings about swimming were right… but imagine if their boys had learned to float in fresh water long before they went on their river bank picnic… they would most likely still be alive today!
My reason for writing is that these tragedies can be avoided so easily… not by stopping boys from being boys, but by allowing all children and young teens the opportunity to learn to float and to swim as early in their lives as possible. Every school should include this in their extra-curricular activities, as there are many safe shallow beaches, pools and river spots in Goa where they can learn, if swimming pools are not available, so that the great sadness behind your headline today will not affect so many families in Goa, every year.
