Last week, a 35-year-old man from Sardinia died suddenly in Lake Garda after going for a swim. On July 17, a 41-year-old man with his wife and two small children was sailing a boat on the lake. He drowned when he dived from the boat into the water. At the end of May, a woman in Lake Garda died of drowning.
Last year, a Dutch man (53) also drowned in Italian water in the presence of his teenage sons. He was probably swept by the current.
Now that the holidays have started in full force, many Dutch people are staying on the banks of the famous lake. Precise figures are not available, but the region probably attracts tens of thousands of Dutch tourists in the summer who rent a mobile home or who arrive at a campsite on the lake with their own transport and camping equipment.
Thermal shock
A refreshing dip is part of it, but it is not without risk, warn Italian experts. The most common cause of the drownings is probably the so-called thermal shock. The body cannot handle the sudden large temperature differences between the heat and the water. Another cause is that people cannot swim well enough.
As far as Lake Garda is concerned, 2017 was especially a disaster. Then fifteen people drowned. Among them were four suicides.
According to the Italian Higher Institute of Health ISS, more than 400 people die every year from drowning across Italy, or more than one a day on average. The age categories with the most victims are those between 15 and 19 years and between 76 and 79 years.
Bad swimmers
There are several reasons why so many people in Italy die from drowning. According to pediatrician Italo Farnetani, it is because people learn to swim poorly in Italy. In the age group between 5 and 18 years only 30% can swim sufficiently. Another 30% can float, but do not know what to do when the first problems arise. Then there is also a 10% in that age group who can only swim in a pool.
According to Farnetani, it is important that children learn to swim in the sea from an early age. More than half of the people drown in the sea (50.3%). The rest mainly drown in inland waters, such as lakes and rivers (41.3%). The rest almost always drown in swimming pools (8.3%). Far more men than women drown.
Rescue worker Davide Gaeta has even compiled a list listing all drowning victims. He argues that there is too little awareness in Italy of the dangers and therefore wants to draw attention to the tragedies.