Category: Safety
-
Diana Nyad will not attempt crossing again
Third time was not the charm for Diana Nyad, attempting to cross the 103 miles from Cuba to Florida. In a frequently emotional news conference in which she removed her shirt to reveal sting marks from toxic jellyfish, Nyad said she initially planned to muscle through the intense pain, but eventually had to give up,…
-
Nyad stung in face by something, switches to “staged swim”
Diana Nyad was yesterday evening stung in the face by some kind of presumed jellyfish, and had to go out of the water for some hours to be treated by doctors. Her face and area the area around her eyes was affected, but she’s back in the water, swim switching to a “staged swim”, meaning…
-
Kumari beat husband’s murder trap by knowing how to swim
25-year-old Ambika Kumari was allegedly pushed off a bridge by her husband, a relative and a friend, into the Ganga in Bihar, but managed to battle about 12 hours through the night against swirling waters, eventually being found unconscious on the river bank 60 km downstream. They had married one-and-a-half years ago, but he’d only…
-
Cooking pot & strong swimming saves grandmother from floods
Desperate to save his grandmother from floodwaters swamping southern Pakistan, Ali Ahmed and three other relatives stuck her in a large metal cooking pot and pulled her to safety through neck-high water. The men swam for several hours through driving rain, unable to rest because the water was too deep, finally reaching a road and…
-
Lifeguards thought drowning boy was ‘playing dead’
Suraj Mall, eight, was unconscious in the deep end, but the guard and another young swimmer thought he was “pretending to be dead” before the alarm was raised. After being pulled out, he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Read the Mirror.
-
Update on Maui Channel swimmer John Caughlin’s situation
41-year-old John Caughlin lost an arm and part of his other hand when a boat ran over him with unprotected propeller during the Maui Channel swim on September 3. The Daily News of Open Water Swimming has this accident update on his situation, which unfortunately isn’t too good. Despite heroic efforts in an 11-hour operation,…
-
‘Swimmer Buddy’ aims to make open-water swimming safer
Long-distance swimmer Jim Zinger says he created the Swimmer Buddy after his wife expressed concerns about him swimming in open water. It is a belt connected by a 6-foot-long leash to a body board, on which you can attach colourful “noodles” and flags. To be seen and to be able to rest upon if you…
-
Maui swimmer lost an arm and most of his other hand
Correction to this story from yesterday, about 41-year-old John Caughlin who was badly hurt after being hit by a boat during the Maui Channel swim on Saturday. He had a lot more than just a hand ‘nearly severed’, read The Daily News of Open Water Swimming: John was taken by Jet ski to shore and…