As we enter the summer holidays and a time of prolonged contact with the water, we’re honoured to welcome back journalist and author Jessica Hatcher-Moore to the TÖASTIE Journal.
Known for her grounded, evocative writing on parenting and the natural world, Jessica shares a deeply personal and practical reflection on open water safety—a topic close to her heart as she raises two boys by the River Dee in North Wales. In this piece, she speaks with Andy Turton of Paddle Cymru to uncover essential, often overlooked guidance that every parent should know before heading to the water’s edge.
In the Netherlands, all children are taught to float on their backs before they turn two; with a fifth of the country underwater, buoyancy is a matter of life and death. In the UK, we’re not so amphibious. For me, however, raising two boys by the River Dee in North Wales, I think about water safety a lot. I want my children to feel confident in wild and open waters, to grow up with a sprinkling of salt in their veins. But I also want them to be cautious, so it’s a constant balancing act. Tragically, around 400 people drown every year in our country – far more than in Holland. With spring fast approaching and the River Dee twinkling invitingly, I reached out to Andy Turton, Coaching Manager of Paddle Cymru and father of two, to find out what he thinks every parent should know about rivers and open water safety.
There are the obvious rules: supervise children at all times; stay within arm’s length; plan what you’re doing, including your in and out; check the weather; if you’re going alone, tell someone your plan and confirm when you’re back; and take a phone in case you do need help. The Royal Life Saving Society and the RNLI publish excellent advice. But there are a few things that Andy told me that I didn’t know and wanted to share.
1. Beware the looking glass. A glassy river isn’t always a safe river. A still surface can be misleading because the water under the surface is often flowing faster. To swim, you need a flat section with really minimal flow.
2. Avoid cheap buoyancy aids (or “personal flotation devices”). Cheap and ineffective buoyancy aids are Andy's pet hates. There are hundreds of thousands in circulation, sold by retailers like Amazon and eBay, that are not safe and have been recalled. If you do get a buoyancy aid, get a good one that meets proper safety standards, and ensure it fits properly. You should be able to lift your child by it, and it shouldn’t ride up.
3. Know the difference: life jacket v buoyancy aids. A life jacket holds you on your back in a safe position in the water. A well-fitted buoyancy aid keeps you afloat but allows you to swim at the same time.
4. Get a handle on things. The great thing about children's buoyancy aids is that many come with a handle. If you’re spending a day by the river, this will allow you to keep a proactive hand on your child and, should they fall in, fish them out again. (If my son isn’t wearing a buoyancy aid and we're standing on the riverbank, I'll take a handful of t-shirt and twist it to get a handle on his back – unlike his slippery little hands, the fabric won't wriggle out of my grip. In general though, if your children are playing by a river, ensure it’s not next to running water. Find them a little beach – or keep them well back from the edge.
5. Cheap wetsuit alert. The cheapest wetsuits that you’ll find online tend to have little stretch (so it’s hard to get a good fit) and minimal thermal properties, providing only an illusion of warmth. If you need a wetsuit, get a decent one. You can always buy second hand.
6. The listening test. Is your child safe to go in the water? Is the risk worth the gain? The question is not always can they swim, Andy says – it’s also, can they follow instruction? Will they listen to you if you need them to do something? And are you ready to respond if something goes wrong? If not, then the answer should be no – they’re not safe to swim, no matter how good their stroke is.
7. Paddle board perils. Paddle boards are brilliant and suddenly they’re everywhere, no longer a highly specialist piece of kit. But they need to be treated with respect. At sea and in open water, many people don’t realise that the moment they stand up on a paddle board they become the equivalent of a sail: any offshore wind (i.e. wind not felt on the beach) can carry them off quickly. The closer you are to the water the less you’ll be at the mercy of the wind – but even siting in a dinghy or an inflatable swan you can be carried away.
8. Swim along, not across. Where it’s safe to do so, always swim along the shore. Andy told me how, as a teenager, he and his group of scouts were made to swim a mile across Lake Windemere. Today, he said, no one would let a child do that. Feel free to swim a mile in a lake if you want to, but swim along the shore, where there’s the option to get out safely – that way, there’s nothing to be lost, but everything to be gained.
9. Listen, look and learn. From a young age, teach your children respect for open water. Take a fisherman’s view and encourage them to watch, listen and learn before they play. Look for the flies on the surface of the water. The circles of fish rising to find them. Tell them about currents in lakes and practice spotting rip tides at the beach. Teach them to understand where the river flows fastest in the middle and around a bend, and teach them about eddys, where the water flows back on itself near the bank.
11. Stand out. Neon colours are not just fun – research shows they’re important! Stand out to be safe in water, the brighter the better.
