The man who drowned on Saturday evening in the radioplasses at Stevensbeek is from Poland. He had just started swimming, but got into trouble halfway through the lake and drowned. Unfortunately, it is no exception: every year there are dozens of people who are not a resident of the Netherlands.
On average 115 people in the Netherlands drown every year, according to the most recent figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). It is striking that on average around 27 of them are not a resident of the Netherlands, such as tourists or labor migrants.
According to the National Council of Swimming Safety, people who have not followed Dutch swimming education will get into trouble faster, because “you are already learning to swim as a child in the Netherlands, because we are such a water -rich country.”
Dangers of swimming
The Dutch swimming culture also ensures that people are more famous with the dangers of the water. “But for people from other cultures that is not so obvious at all. Their experience with swimming in open water is much smaller. They are not used to it. If they come in a country where there is a lot of swimming, you see that they also want to go to the water in good weather. But the risk that they will get into trouble is much greater than people with a Dutch background,” spokesperson Brabant told Brabant.
And if you go swimming, it is important to be extra careful and to follow the advice of Marc van der Jagt from Rescue Brigade Nederland:
- Do not swim where there is no supervision. Do that only at designated swimming spots, they have been checked and where a lifeguard is.
- Are you going to swim where there is no supervision? Then don’t go alone, always make sure someone keeps an eye on you.
- Beware of saving someone. Are you aware that the water can be cold and you can end up in a cold shock or in a current. So consider whether you are able to help. If not? Call 112.
Drowning
This involves so-called accidental drowning, such as drowning while swimming. Drowning by an accident, suicide or murder were not included in the figures.