The swimming season opens on May 1st, and hundreds of people flock to reservoirs for recreation.
Water is a good friend and ally to humans, helping to derive maximum enjoyment from recreation and improve health. However, it does not tolerate recklessness and can be a source of increased danger. The consequences of careless behaviour can be severe. In 2024 alone, during the swimming season in the Lepel district, 4 water-related emergencies occurred: 2 citizens drowned, and 2 minors were rescued.
The main cause of drowning incidents is underestimating dangers and the inability to extricate oneself from difficult situations. Often, a person drowns not because they cannot swim, but because they panic. The most frequent causes leading to tragedy include alcohol intoxication, swimming long distances, hypothermia, muscle cramps, burst inflatable craft, lack of child supervision, jumping from heights, and swimming in prohibited areas. Water safety is most easily ensured at specially equipped beaches with lifeguards.
In accordance with the decision of the Lepel District Executive Committee No. 264 of March 22, 2021 (supplemented by decision No. 393 of April 15, 2022), designated areas for mass public recreation have been established (city beach, Lake Svyatoye beach, Lepel Military Sanatorium beach, KUP DROTS Zhemchuzhina, Borovka village beach), as well as prohibited swimming areas in reservoirs intended for the district's fire-fighting water supply, and other locations not designated by the Lepel District Executive Committee for public recreation.
Water Safety Rules
People drown annually in Belarus. Many simply do not know how to stay afloat, making it crucial to master swimming skills in childhood to feel confident and be able to assist a drowning person if necessary. Water safety requires strict adherence to the following rules:
It is advisable to swim only at equipped beaches that have all the necessary rescue and first aid facilities. In unfamiliar bodies of water, the bottom may pose dangers such as broken glass, snags, metal rods, and other debris.
Swimming is prohibited in marshy areas, as well as in places with silt and algae. It is best to choose water bodies with sandy or pebbly bottoms.
The duration of swimming should depend on the air and water temperature, as well as the wind strength.
The recommended ambient temperature is at least +20°C in clear, windless weather.
Enter the water gradually, especially if your body is overheated by the sun.
Water safety in summer prohibits rough games involving submersion and holding underwater.
Swimming is permitted only 1.5-2 hours after a meal.
The duration of swimming should not exceed 15-20 minutes.
Visitors to beaches are prohibited from:
- swimming in prohibited areas and during dark hours;
consuming alcoholic, low-alcohol beverages, beer, narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues, toxic or other stupefying substances on beaches;
swimming while intoxicated and/or under the influence of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues, toxic or other stupefying substances;
- swimming beyond the boundaries marking the beach water area;
- approaching vessels and floating objects;
- climbing on technical and warning signs, buoys, and other objects;
- swimming on sports equipment, boards, loungers, logs, car inner tubes, inflatable mattresses, or other items;
- using rescue equipment and gear for unintended purposes;
- organising water games involving diving and grabbing swimmers, or engaging in any other actions that may cause an accident;
- giving false alarm signals;
- leaving children under 14 years of age unattended;
- washing laundry, vehicles, or animals.
- Jumping into the water from vessels, floating objects, bridges, piers, dams, other hydraulic structures and devices is prohibited, as is the entry, manoeuvring, and parking of vessels in the vicinity of beaches and swimming areas marked by buoys.
Children's Water Safety
Water is a dangerous element even for adults, and it is doubly dangerous for children. Moreover, accidents most often happen not with those children who cannot swim (as a rule, they do not go deep into the water), but with those who consider themselves excellent swimmers. Therefore, the safe behaviour of children on the water depends primarily on parents. Children under 14 years of age must be near water only when accompanied by adults.
The first and most important rule is that preschool and primary school children must swim strictly under adult supervision.
Teenagers without adult supervision may only swim in designated areas. The largest number of tragedies occurs in water bodies not intended for swimming.
Children splashing in the water usually do so very emotionally and make a lot of noise. A sudden silence must alert parents. Before going to a camp or resort, you should clearly explain to the child what safe behaviour on the water is and what the consequences of not following the rules are.
Swimming for children is allowed in designated areas agreed with the territorial state sanitary supervision institutions and the Belarusian Voluntary Society for the Rescue of Persons on Water (OSVOD). The bottom of the water areas designated for children's swimming should have a gradual slope, without pits, ledges, and dangerous objects, with depths not exceeding:
0.7 metres – for children up to 9 years old;
1.2 metres – for children aged 9 to 14 years.
Children's safety on the water is achieved through a set of organisational and technical measures, which primarily consist of:
- the correct choice of a place for children to swim and its equipment in accordance with the Rules;
- constant monitoring of the behaviour of children in the water (when swimming with young children, stay close to them at arm's length)
Rescuing a Drowning Person
Water safety regulations state that the best course of action is to call for help from rescuers or people who are good swimmers. However, if the situation requires you to rescue a person in distress alone, the following recommendations will help you do it correctly:
First and foremost, one should try to calm the drowning person, letting them know that help is near. Sometimes this is enough for the person to stop panicking and swim to shore themselves.
The most effective rescue method is to extend a long pole or rope to the drowning person from a boat or shore, which they can grab onto and swim out. If a lifebuoy is available, it should be thrown.
It is best to approach a person in distress from behind, as a drowning person instinctively grabs their rescuer and restricts their movements, and may even unintentionally stun them with a strong blow.
The person should be turned onto their back and swum to shore.
If they resist and thereby pull the rescuer underwater, one can submerge with them for a few seconds; this will help to break free from the drowning person's desperate grip.
If the drowning person has gone under, the rescuer should dive, take the drowning person under the arms or by the hair underwater, and, pushing off strongly from the bottom, surface with them.
Adherence to elementary safety measures at water bodies during the summer period will allow you to make your recreation safe.
Head of the Lepel Rescue Station