Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Drowning at mud fest on Saturday.
Someone said on this Dave's thread that a person drowned at Daecheon Beach on Saturday, though there isn't much in the news about it save for brief mentions in a couple of articles, here and here. According to the first one, from the 매일경제, a man in his 30s was swimming at the beach on the 18th when he was swept away by the current. The second says his name was Choi and he was 34. The 매일경제 article also says a woman in her 30s died in Daegu when she slipped while hiking near Palgongsan's Gatbawi.
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I can see why the man might have drowned on Saturday. The wind was hella strong all day and the waves were insanely high. Basically, the bullhorns and sirens were going all day, telling people to stay out of the water and not to go swimming.
I've only been to the ocean a handful of times in my life, and never really thought about undertow since I'm a pretty strong swimmer. But I was at Haeundae last summer during some pretty high waves. They had it roped off until about waist-height, and eventually closed down the water. Like everyone else I was swimming out to meet the waves, and a few times I got forced into a somersault under the water and pulled a few meters away. It shook me up a little, and I think if I weren't that good a swimmer, if the water were deeper, or if I didn't have the bottom to give me a sense of direction I could have been in some trouble.
Always listen to the lifeguards or whoever's in charge the beach. In Korea there may be a tendency to treat beachgoers like precious little lotus blossoms, telling them to get out of the water when it's not that bad or keeping swimmers a bit close to the shore, but considering how poor a swimmer the average Korean is, that's probably wise.
In Hawaii I had a Taiwanese friend almost drown because she didn't listen to advice about taking a break at a certain point, a Korean friend who snorkeled far from shore without a swimming buddy (strongly advised in placed like Hanauma Bay), and a Japanese friend who ignored warnings for novices to stay out of the water and ended up getting smashed by a wave onto the sandy bottom, causing a busted ear drum.
It's insane the amount of breaks the "so-called" ligeguards at Caribbean Bay force upon the paying public, especially since everyone is forced to wear those ubiquitous floatation devices. I especially enjoy the diving platform that was actually removed and having the lifeguards advise against any dives other than straight into the water and back out as quickly as possible; however, I enjoy diving to the bottom and freaking them out while they decide whether or not to come in after me.
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