The Peru Gazette

By Donald McBrayer

A young woman almost drowned in Lake Champlain Tuesday evening because she misjudged distance in the water.

I went sailing with some friends.  After a couple hours we finished up and anchored to our buoy which is located about 500 feet from shore. I was taking turns rowing two people at a time back to the dock in a dingy when one of our group, a young woman I’ll call Carol, decided to swim inland instead of waiting her turn. She was a third of the way to shore when I passed her heading to the boat for my second trip. I asked her if she was all right and she energetically said “yes.” I got back to the boat, loaded up my wife and daughter and headed toward the dock. As we approached Carol, about half way to shore, I could see she was beginning to struggle. My daughter called out asking if she was all right. Her response was a very weak ”no!”  I made haste toward her. We threw her a line, but she was too weak to grab it. I maneuvered closer and had my daughter grab Carol’s hand and HOLD ON NO MATTER WHAT.  It was a long struggling row back to the dock with three in the dingy, and one hanging onto its side, but we made it. Later Carol told us she would have been under in less than minute if we hadn’t been there. She was that exhausted.

I’m sharing this to remind everyone about the danger of gauging distance in the open water. The distance may look shorter than you realize, and once exhausted, you are finished, period. Never try to swim across open water unattended and without a life jacket. Remember that even warm water saps heat from your body and swimming tires you out more quickly than even running. And, when swimming in the middle of an open lake there’s no place to stop and rest.

Carol is lucky, but this could just as easily have been a tragic story. Please remember to stay safe.