Deachman: Britannia Beach should be made safer for swimmers. Here’s how

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Two years ago, Elise Skinner was involved in a near-drowning at Britannia Beach.

Despite the temperature reaching 29 C that day — the second Saturday in September 2022 — and the Humidex skimming 34, the beach was unsupervised. Gone for the season, Skinner recalls, were the lifeguards and, significantly, the buoys that for most of the summer demarcated the official swimming area.

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Skinner, who lives nearby, watched as a group of youngsters ran in shallow water, parallel to the beach. One of the children had splashed ahead of the others, southwest, in the direction of the Ron Kolbus Centre. In a flash, the youngster disappeared under the water, as he abruptly and unknowingly entered the deeper — now unmarked — official swimming area.

A mother and nurse, Skinner plunged in, and was able to push the youngster above the water line. Her efforts to keep herself and the child above water were hampered, though, because she couldn’t touch the bottom either. Fortunately, other adults soon arrived, scooping the boy up and taking him to shore.

Swimming at any outdoor beach can be fraught with peril: currents, undertows, uneven lake- and river-beds and other hazards. Britannia Beach’s topography, however, brings unique dangers.

Hoping to prevent some of the tragedies that have befallen swimmers there, including the drowning death last month of nine-year-old José-Antonio Burpee, Skinner wrote a report on some of the safety issues at the beach, and included recommendations for action. Last week, she sent it to Coun. Theresa Kavanagh, in whose Bay Ward Britannia is located, as well as to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and city officials.

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Most notable among Britannia’s challenges are the sudden drop-offs in the water, which are actually the result of improvements made four years ago.

The swimming area was dredged in 2020 to restore the water depth it provided in 1990, before 30 years of sand and silt deposits reduced it to less than half a metre. According to Dan Chenier, general manager of the city’s Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services, the deepest parts of the swimming area are currently 2.5 metres, or slightly more than eight feet.

The city points out that the drop-offs shouldn’t pose a great danger to beachgoers who stay within the swimming area. The water gets progressively deeper there, but there are no sharp drops as one walks out from the shore.

The problem comes if you enter the swimming area from either side, particularly from the sandbars to the east, where dredging wasn’t done. There, Chenier notes, the drop-off can be precipitous and without any slope to provide a warning.

I witnessed this hazard in action when Skinner and I took to the beach earlier this week. Four children were among those playing in the extremely shallow water outside the supervised swim area. After a lifeguard called out to advise beach-goers in general to stay within the buoys, the foursome obediently walked laterally to do so. Almost immediately after entering the swimming area, the youngest, a six-year-old boy who couldn’t swim, was swallowed by the river as he encountered the drop-off. Luckily, one of the older children grabbed him and swam with him to safer waters. “I almost drowned!” the youngster called out as his playmates laughed.

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But the fact is, he could have.

“I don’t think it’s by chance that we saw that,” Skinner later said. “It’s not a coincidence; it’s a very dangerous pattern.”

Certainly the sudden lateral drop-off isn’t intuitive — for anyone, let alone a youngster — and you can’t expect beachgoers not to enter the swimming area from the shallows on the side. Larger buoys with signage warn of the drop-off issue, but they’re near the shore inside the swimming area, and the text on them is too small to read unless you’re within two or three metres. Even at that, what six- or nine-year-old knows what it means? It’s unfortunate that when the beach was dredged, the sides of the swimming area weren’t similarly graded to smooth the drop-offs, which might have lessened the problem. Could that yet be done?

Skinner’s report, meanwhile, recommends that the city lend life-jackets for free, a practical and fairly easy solution that could save lives while also providing a measure of security to those who can’t swim. At the NCC River House, for example, there are more than 40 life-jackets available, ranging in size from infant to XXL.

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Skinner recommends a lending station operated in collaboration with Ottawa Public Health, Ottawa Fire’s rescue team and the Ottawa Public Library.

According to Chenier, the city already provides life-jackets at all its locations, a service he says is “frequently used by residents.” But you’d hardly know it at Britannia; a large sign at the rentals office lists paddle boards and volleyball nets, but not life-jackets. And when I asked the attendant there about life-jackets, I was shown the five they had on offer, only one of which would fit a child. Additionally, paddle board renters are required to wear a life-jacket while on the water, which calls into question how many would be available to a family that included more than one youngster. (Chenier notes that the city will gladly accept donations of new Transport Canada-approved life-jackets or personal flotation devices.)

Not mentioned in Skinner’s report but worth considering is extending the period when public beaches are supervised. This year, city beaches at Britannia, Mooney’s Bay and Petrie Island opened on June 15 and will close on Aug. 25, but there are far more days outside that 72-day window when residents use them. The city should find a way to extend the season. A lifeguard shortage and the fact that most lifeguards attend school are often cited as limiting factors, but a solution that doesn’t revolve around students — hiring qualified retirees, perhaps — should be added. As well, the city could also put the buoy lines out sooner and leave them in place longer.

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Skinner’s advocacy, meanwhile, has already had encouraging results. Ottawa Police Service diver A/Sgt. Caroline Gallant noted in a response to Skinner’s concerns that she is working with Life Jackets For Life to implement lifejacket-lending stations at various locations.

Additionally, OPS’s Youth in Policing Initiative (YIPI) has a marine team of 15-to-18-year-olds going to the various beaches and wading pools to help spread the message about water safety.

This, incidentally, is Drowning Prevention Week. But every week should be. People should learn to swim, never swim alone, and be attuned to water safety at all times. A day at the beach can be idyllic and benign, but only if people take proper precautions. The Ottawa Drowning Prevention Coalition and The Lifesaving Society offer lots of information. People should read up before going to the beach.

bdeachman@postmedia.com

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