You should never swim in a river.
Todd Robertson is the Iowa Department of Natural Resources River Programs Outreach Coordinator, and tells Radio on the Go News that rivers are dangerous places.
“You go swimming, you usually don’t wear a life jacket, right? So all of a sudden you’re at the mercy of the current. There’s big holes in the bottom of the river, in the river bed. It’s kind of like pot holes. It’s not a flat road underneath that water. And so there’s a lot of dips and a lot of holes that you can fall into. And without expecting that and get sucked down in there.”
Robertson says those who like to paddle should wait for the water to warm up, and wait for debris to not be as prevalent in the water.
“We’ve got trees and we’ve got tree limbs. We’ve got piles of wood in the river in different sections. Those are called strainers. Those can suck you in, flip your boat, and you can get trapped underneath. So when you go out on the river for the first time this year and go paddling, just be very aware there’s gonna be a bunch of new strainers that maybe you haven’t seen before because we’ve got some new trees down and you just need to use a lot of caution. Make sure you go around those. And if you can’t navigate your boat around these big wood piles or trees, just find a place take your boat out, walk downstream a little bit on the bank, and then put it in. That’s a much safer way to do it.”
He says when paddling, always wear a properly fitted lifejacket, and paddle with a group, not by yourself.
