WAKE COUNTY, N.C. -- Many people may not be driving to the coast this holiday weekend, but area lakes are seeing even more activity than usual. That means crowded swim areas and more opportunity for accidents.

Discuss This Story

 

Marie Green’s kids love to come to Seaforth Beach at Jordan Lake from their home in Cary.    

 

“There’s something about the lake that just draws them towards the water,” said Green. “They find things on the bottom. Maybe because the water is darker, it’s a sense of excitement.”

 

Green knows to be watchful when her boys are in the water.   Beaches at Jordan Lake don’t have lifeguards, so parents are responsible for keeping an eye on their children and adults swim at their own risk.  

 

“It’s easier to me for them to get in trouble when there are so many kids out there,” said mom Crystal Pool of Bear Creek in Chatham County. “They get kicked easier, not intentional, but you’ve got all the kids out there swimming, so it’s easier for them to get kicked, knocked down, pushed under water, that type of thing.”

 

Pool’s family and many others avoid the beaches when it’s so crowded, choosing instead to swim in other parts of the lake. It’s legal to swim anywhere in the lake, says Ranger Chris Fox, but the beaches are designated as safe swim areas. 

 

“Safe swim areas are where the yellow line is out in the water attached to poles,” he said. “Those are safe areas and there’s a buffer zone where boats and other water craft are not allowed to come in.”

 

Fox has several suggestions for safe swimming that apply anywhere there is water, but especially at the lake:

 

- Appoint one parent to watch the children at all times, especially around water.  

- Parents of young children and adults who aren’t strong swimmers should make use of lifejackets that are available at no charge on the beaches at Jordan Lake. 

- Use the buddy system to help keep up with children in crowded places.  

- Don’t swim or go boating when you’ve been drinking alcohol.   The Centers for Disease control says alcohol use is involved in up to half of adolescent and adult deaths associated with water.