The death of a man in Frenchman’s Bay in Pickering last weekend has added to the surge of drownings in the Great Lakes this year.
Co-founder and the Executive Director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, Dave Benjamin, tells My Broadcasting Corporation that prevention is critical since drowning happens faster than most expect.
Hazards at the beach while swimming include an offshore wind that can push you into deeper water. Wave action and undertows are also dangerous, even for an experienced swimmer.
Benjamin says there were 21 drownings in Lake Ontario alone last year. That is on the Canadian and U.S. sides of the shared lake. In total, there were 108 drownings on the Great Lakes in 2020, up from the 97 recorded in 2019.
You can find additional information including drowning prevention videos on the Great Lakes Surf Rescue project website.
