Swimming in the Potomac

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's not like it's an automatic death sentence. Sheesh.

It is far more dangerous to drive a car than to swim in the Potomac.

This is true if you actually know how to swim.

No, it’s not. Idiots. I guess being stupid about river safety also makes you bad at math.

What makes you think that swimming in the Potomac is dangerous?

Strainers.

[Anonymous]

National Harbor has organized swims in the summertime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My teens like to swim at Scott's Run, although not strictly legal.

Lots of infections caused by even wading there (from fecal bacteria).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's not like it's an automatic death sentence. Sheesh.

It is far more dangerous to drive a car than to swim in the Potomac.

This is true if you actually know how to swim.

No, it’s not. Idiots. I guess being stupid about river safety also makes you bad at math.

What makes you think that swimming in the Potomac is dangerous?

It is from a national park (like Great Falls). VERY dangerous (deaths every year) and $300 fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Potomac river swimmer here and the PP who posted the links to people drowning in the Potomac is just the kind of anxious type-A BS the DMV is over run with.

Do I need to list all the news stories about people who have drowned in the ocean? Or in swimming pools? It's many, many more.

Swimming in water is always a little dangerous. Just like you don't go in the ocean if there's a riptide, you don't swim near Great Falls, or where the currents are strong.

I mean this is common sense. People have been swimming in rivers for thousands of years.

People have been drowning for thousands of years Bozo.

Natural bodies of water are the leading sites of drowning deaths for teens and adults.

[Anonymous]

Not hyperbole but reality. It is illegal to swim in the Potomac around DC for a reason. We still Paddle board and canoe but only with life jackets.

Seven persons a year, on average, drown in the area. Nearly all drowning victims are 15 to 25 years old. Most victims had been drinking or using drugs. The Potomac seems so tranquil that people are unaware of danger.

http://npshistory.com/brochures/grfa/info.pdf

Why is Potomac River so dangerous ? In DMV area?

Fast Water
Above Great Falls the
river funnels down to 200 feet, causing the current to speed up tremendously.

Rising Water
Water rises quickly.
Water changing to muddy means danger. In 10 minutes you can be stranded on rocks and islands.

The River's Edge
The rocks are dangerous because of poor footing. Stay a body length from the water.

"Killer Hydraulic"
When water goes over a fall or dam, the current underneath runs faster than the surface. This causes water to curl backward, sucking down floating objects

[Anonymous]

Above Hancock, while kayaking only in certain places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not hyperbole but reality. It is illegal to swim in the Potomac around DC for a reason. We still Paddle board and canoe but only with life jackets.

Seven persons a year, on average, drown in the area. Nearly all drowning victims are 15 to 25 years old. Most victims had been drinking or using drugs. The Potomac seems so tranquil that people are unaware of danger.

http://npshistory.com/brochures/grfa/info.pdf

Why is Potomac River so dangerous ? In DMV area?

Fast Water
Above Great Falls the
river funnels down to 200 feet, causing the current to speed up tremendously.

Rising Water
Water rises quickly.
Water changing to muddy means danger. In 10 minutes you can be stranded on rocks and islands.

The River's Edge
The rocks are dangerous because of poor footing. Stay a body length from the water.

"Killer Hydraulic"
When water goes over a fall or dam, the current underneath runs faster than the surface. This causes water to curl backward, sucking down floating objects

^ Just stay home if you don't know what you're doing and aren't a strong swimmer.

[Anonymous]

This sounds like an idiot transplant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not hyperbole but reality. It is illegal to swim in the Potomac around DC for a reason. We still Paddle board and canoe but only with life jackets.

Seven persons a year, on average, drown in the area. Nearly all drowning victims are 15 to 25 years old. Most victims had been drinking or using drugs. The Potomac seems so tranquil that people are unaware of danger.

http://npshistory.com/brochures/grfa/info.pdf

Why is Potomac River so dangerous ? In DMV area?

Fast Water
Above Great Falls the
river funnels down to 200 feet, causing the current to speed up tremendously.

Rising Water
Water rises quickly.
Water changing to muddy means danger. In 10 minutes you can be stranded on rocks and islands.

The River's Edge
The rocks are dangerous because of poor footing. Stay a body length from the water.

"Killer Hydraulic"
When water goes over a fall or dam, the current underneath runs faster than the surface. This causes water to curl backward, sucking down floating objects

^ Just stay home if you don't know what you're doing and aren't a strong swimmer.

I’ve seen canoes fully wrapped around a rock on the Potomac. You can’t out-swim a Potomac river current!

[Anonymous]

Leesylvania State Park. Camped there with several families and the kids and some adults went in. No way for me - gross, but lots of people swim there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not hyperbole but reality. It is illegal to swim in the Potomac around DC for a reason. We still Paddle board and canoe but only with life jackets.

Seven persons a year, on average, drown in the area. Nearly all drowning victims are 15 to 25 years old. Most victims had been drinking or using drugs. The Potomac seems so tranquil that people are unaware of danger.

http://npshistory.com/brochures/grfa/info.pdf

Why is Potomac River so dangerous ? In DMV area?

Fast Water
Above Great Falls the
river funnels down to 200 feet, causing the current to speed up tremendously.

Rising Water
Water rises quickly.
Water changing to muddy means danger. In 10 minutes you can be stranded on rocks and islands.

The River's Edge
The rocks are dangerous because of poor footing. Stay a body length from the water.

"Killer Hydraulic"
When water goes over a fall or dam, the current underneath runs faster than the surface. This causes water to curl backward, sucking down floating objects

^ Just stay home if you don't know what you're doing and aren't a strong swimmer.

I’ve seen canoes fully wrapped around a rock on the Potomac. You can’t out-swim a Potomac river current!

WOW! I'm assuming they all died! RIP DC canoe dorks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not hyperbole but reality. It is illegal to swim in the Potomac around DC for a reason. We still Paddle board and canoe but only with life jackets.

Seven persons a year, on average, drown in the area. Nearly all drowning victims are 15 to 25 years old. Most victims had been drinking or using drugs. The Potomac seems so tranquil that people are unaware of danger.

http://npshistory.com/brochures/grfa/info.pdf

Why is Potomac River so dangerous ? In DMV area?

Fast Water
Above Great Falls the
river funnels down to 200 feet, causing the current to speed up tremendously.

Rising Water
Water rises quickly.
Water changing to muddy means danger. In 10 minutes you can be stranded on rocks and islands.

The River's Edge
The rocks are dangerous because of poor footing. Stay a body length from the water.

"Killer Hydraulic"
When water goes over a fall or dam, the current underneath runs faster than the surface. This causes water to curl backward, sucking down floating objects

^ Just stay home if you don't know what you're doing and aren't a strong swimmer.

Ha ha ha

Very strong swimmer - but sane one …

[Anonymous]

Some of these posters just keep showing their ignorance.
Swimmers drown all the time.

See "In the Potomac's Grip" if you have a Washington Post subscription.

Or the "Potomac River is Alluring but Deadly" in the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Not point using facts to argue with macho bravado though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of these posters just keep showing their ignorance.
Swimmers drown all the time.

See "In the Potomac's Grip" if you have a Washington Post subscription.

Or the "Potomac River is Alluring but Deadly" in the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Not point using facts to argue with macho bravado though.

It's not macho bravado, it's common sense. Don't swim near Great Falls. Don't swim after it's rained.

I swim in the Potomac throughout the summer. Obv. I've never drowned and I've never caught an infection (I do shower right after).

Swimming in the river is lovely. Sorry, but some of us just love it. I think the people who drown are usually people who are not familiar with the river. And I agree, you need to be informed. But I feel safer in the river than in the ocean.