In about a month, Brandenburg’s outdoor pools will be filled with bathers again. According to their own statements, the volunteers of the German Life Saving Society (DLRG) are well prepared for the season. To this end, they have trained hundreds of non-swimmers and numerous lifeguards in recent months. Swimming courses had not been able to take place sufficiently in previous years due to the corona pandemic.
The waiting list for corresponding courses is now all the longer, reports DLRG state association spokesman Daniel Keip of the German Press Agency. It is positive that the number of lifeguards in the country has increased by 200 to a total of around 4,200 compared to the previous year. Despite the increase in membership, the number of volunteers was not sufficient. “There are still not enough to work through the long waiting lists for non-swimmers, to secure beaches and events,” says Keip.
With the increase in temperatures, the 36-year-old trained lifeguard expects rushes to rivers, lakes and ponds at the beginning of May. Many Berliners also make trips to Brandenburg waters. “The best life insurance is to be able to swim well,” emphasizes Keip. That’s why he sees the trend that more people want to put their own swimming skills to the test and take courses as positive. “Of course, that also presents us with major challenges in terms of strength.” According to the DLRG, half of the bathing deaths last year were between 51 and 80 years old.
The DLRG lifeguards are active in 15 Brandenburg outdoor pools, on other beaches pool operators such as municipalities often use their own lifeguards. However, most of the beaches and bathing areas on the countless lakes in the country are unguarded.
According to the DLRG report, a total of 22 people drowned last year – one less than the year before. This put Brandenburg in fifth place as the federal state with the most water, together with Schleswig-Holstein. 17 men and 5 women died in Brandenburg waters, most of them in lakes.
Over the coming weekends, lifeguards will check how emergency equipment got through the fall and winter, including boats and vehicles on land. During the energy crisis in the past year, many volunteers paid for fuel out of their own pockets, or the association’s treasury was tapped because part of the municipal budget was used up, says Keip. “The alternative would have been to stop working, but we are convinced that our job is important.” There is no lack of honors for the lifesavers in the country, but there is often a lack of tangible support from the municipalities and districts, for example in the assumption of additional costs.
Keip points out current water temperatures of an average of six to seven degrees for those in a hurry who want to take a dip in the lake at Easter. That is enormously stressful for the circulatory system and not everyone can tolerate it. Nobody should overestimate themselves.
