Voie Navigables de France launches its annual awareness campaign on the dangers of wild swimming

The places most at risk are not those you think. In total, “40% of fatal drownings take place in rivers or bodies of water,” warned Voies Navigable de France on Sunday.

Voie Navigables de France is launching its annual awareness campaign on the dangers of wild swimming, called “Don’t sink your summer”. “Every year, 40% of fatal drownings take place in rivers or bodies of water. So, largely on the French Waterways network, but also, of course, on the whole of the rivers of our country”explains Sunday June 30 on franceinfo, Cécile Allezard, general director of Voies Navigables de France (VNF).

This campaign is particularly aimed at young people, because they are “Above all” they are the victims, underlines Cécile Allezard. “Last week, we had two fatal accidents. One in the Rhine: a young person did not imagine that there would be so much flow and currents. The other on a reservoir body of water on which , there too, we had a drowned person”she laments.

“Near rivers, you have the impression that there is no danger in the water” but it can be “very dangerous”warns Cécile Avezard, giving several examples: “There are the stakes, rocks which are not necessarily visible”.

In a press release, Voies Navigables de France recalls that it “It is strictly forbidden to swim upstream, downstream of the locks and dams, and even inside the locks” but also that “jumping from a bridge (even from a low height) is a very risky activity” because “in the murky water of the canals and rivers, where bridges are built, there are hidden structures which, if jumped, could prove fatal: concrete blocks, metal piles, piles of rocks”explains VNF.

Generally, “the risks of drowning are real outside of designated sites” particularly because “from the presence of sometimes very violent and unexpected currents, sometimes difficult climbs back up to the bank, or even poor visibility underwater which makes the rescue of a submerged swimmer very difficult, if not impossible”, warns Voies Navigables de France. Finally, “with the meteorological context, the risk of hydrocution is high because of the significant temperature variations between the air and the water”adds the operator.

Cécile Allezard strongly advises everyone to go swimming “in areas authorized and provided for this purpose”. On franceinfo, she ensures that “more and more municipalities want to develop bathing capacity near towns” And “it is very good”. Waterways of France “try, in conjunction with all the municipalities along our networks”to identify the bathing sites that have been developed, “where you can swim safely”insists its general manager.

A list is already available on the Voies Navigables de France website at the following address: https://www.vnf.fr/vnf/localiser-les-sites-de-baignade-autorises-coulepastonete