Always respect the power of nature, particularly the sea.

Having been born and brought up on a small island I spent countless hours on the beach and in the sea. I was taught to enjoy the water but to have a healthy respect for it as Mother Nature has the upper hand all the time.
If you have ever watched Saving Lives at Sea, a documentary about the sterling work done by RNLI volunteers, you would probably be as surprised as me at the sheer stupidity of some people in ignoring all the warnings, put there for their own safety. There will always be some who must have a selfie against a backdrop of stormy seas and the surfboarders who cannot resist the mountainous waves. So sad for their families.

It is increasingly popular and referred to as wild swimming or cold water swimming. People here are growing in numbers at their daily dip. Sadly because as Sarnia says unless you are brought up with a little knowledge and respect you never quite get the power of the sea.

So, so sad.

Sad but also stupid it has to be said… conditions were poor and advice ignored.

It is sad but I agree healthy respect and if the experts say it’s unsafe it generally is

I'm afraid that some people just don't listen to well meant advice .
It is so sad .

Sadly certain people just follow a fashion regardless and don't educate themselves about the rules and dangers. I know someone like this and have observed it first hand [they've already had health issues arise from wild swimming]. It's way to impress friends and sad to watch.

So sad for the families who have lost loved ones, and Christmas will hold sombre memories.

Foolhardy, unfortunately. And sad of course. But I wish people would listen to expert advice.

It’s tragic but down to individual choice. There are claims of growing anger that the swim was allowed to go ahead but people must take responsibility for themselves. I find it incomprehensible that anyone would try and swim in the sea in such conditions.

A terrible tragedy all round and so unnecessary.

it's so very sad that people have lost their lives, and families can never again feel the same at Christmas, surely people can make up their own minds whether to endanger their lives or not,they were advised not to swim, it was very stupid , and for what. and what about the rescuers who had to give up their Christmas day to search for them?

Isn't the problem that people are making up their own minds pably15 ? And not doing it well.

A couple of years ago during some bad storms I watched a cam from Whitby showing the waves coming up over the road. People were going out onto a little jetty and playing chicken with the waves. One couple even took two young children with them, one in a pushchair. They couldn't get back to the road through the waves without risking being washed off the jetty and some local police and RNLI volunteers had to go out onto the jetty to get them back. Utter stupidity not to mention risking other peoples' lives.

Yep indeed daft and I know the area concerned - because I'm from that area. Those waves looked rather wild to me and wilder than I've personally seen them ever.

People should be aware there's no shame in changing one's mind about doing something like going swimming if the waves look like that - not to mention it's particularly cold at this time of year. Who wants to be a dead "hero" after all? Better to be alive/an observer and having a tot of brandy to help warm up one's inside - rather than stubbornly sticking to "I've decided - and so I will".

I love going into the sea, but if the advice says dont go in, why on earth would you?
Tragic for all involved and my heartfelt sympathy to the families. They must be asking the same questions too.

My mum was a bit of a nutjob re swimming in freezing cold seas in big waves. No thought of danger. Here it is more sharks and jellyfish you need to be aware of besides the riptides and currents. Where we used to swim has developed very strong undertows for some reason so you get swept off your feet. Overseas visitors still tend to swim there with little children which is madness.

I do the Christmas Day swim every year. The one at my town is well organised you pay a small fee which goes to charity there is a lifeboat straight in front ( very close in ) of the area that is cordoned off for entering the water and the entrance area is probable about 30 + feet wide so everything is very well controlled

The swim in question in Devon is not an organised one it is just a tradition, the area they were all entering looked very wide and much more difficult to control .

I chose not to go in this year a combination of a rough throat, and the high winds/ waves I was very disappointed but I know if I was knocked down by those waves I would have trouble getting on my feet and getting up before the next one hit and could drag me under.

I feel so so sorry for those guys and their families , to see your husband/ dad/ son go off for a bit of fun and never see them again is unbelievable and on Christmas morning too
A lot of people had to be rescued from that particular swim but I imagine those two men dived in instead of tip toeing in and would very quickly be pulled under
If their bodies are ever found they will be miles away

You have to respect the sea

That particular swim and any in towns where there is no control should be stopped in my opinion

Dreadfully sorry for their families. loved ones made their own mind up against experts opinion. Maybe in future signs and cordoning off the beach could happen but I dont know if that's possible. Very sad indeed.

I don't think these swims can be banned - as that goes against our personal freedom.

Society is getting steadily more and more "controlling" and enormously so 2020 onwards and it has to be remembered we are all sovereign beings and it's up to us what we do and when - as long as no-one else is physically or financially harmed by it. So it does have to remain up to people themselves what they do in this respect. It's not for me - no thanks! I like my comfort thanks all the same and wouldnt even want to be an onlooker at such an event (as I like being in the warmth thanks very much.....). But I wouldnt seek to deny someone else the chance to do that - and I do know just how many people would find a way to keep doing what they've decided and think it much the better that people can still decide whether to go on these public mass swims or no - if only because they'll just go off and find private little coves if they were prevented from using the usual beaches.

Our local TV showed an interview with one of the swimmers who said he thought he was going in for a Christmas dip and found himself pulled from underneath ending up under the shore waves. Two fully clothed people managed to drag him out and his face was covered in blood. He said the waves were so powerful, it was foolish to even consider going in.

They won’t be banned and they shouldn’t be Cariad but they can be controlled but of course that costs money which our town puts money aside for as an annual event and then charges you £10 (which goes to charity) but that way it’s all official and can justify the services needed, using the lifeboat and life guards to control the event there are ropes along the run in so you would go in inbetween the ropes and are seen and controlled just like any other sporting event
Many towns do it this way which is why many towns cancelled their event our was deemed safe enough.
Some towns just leave it as an annual free for all My daughters town in Ireland again no lifeguards around, no boats nothing just people running in and out and accident waiting to happen

Carriadagain no they wouldn’t go and find little individual coves as it all about the community feel and the crowds watching.
You wouldn’t have a football or rugby match without some form of control This annual event is a ‘sports’ event and needs safety aspects to be in control by safety officials
I feel strongly about this
The Devon event should have been called off as too dangerous and the council were in deficit not to do so but also it’s down to personal safety and unfortunately those two poor men didn’t respect the sea and its fury

I remember being in Spain one summers holiday and the beach was closed because it was deemed dangerous they had some police patrolling …Of course two men decided to defy the rules and go in, do I need to say they were Brits, anyway before you could say Jack Robinson , two policemen dragged them out clouting them with their batons as they did so. They had only got to knee depth but I bet they wouldn’t do it again.

I don't see how you can cancel an event that isn't an organised event in the first place.
The Budleigh swim is just a tradition, and people (not a huge number) turn up if they so wish. The man who drowned swims every day in the sea there, and would probably have done so anyway.

The problem at Budleigh beach is that, if the tide is strong and high you get swept to the Western end where there is no beach to get out. Just a wall of huge pebbles. It's possible the swimmers could have been knocked unconscious at this point on exit by the washing machine effect, and then hypothermia sets in.
My friend who was there and a daily swimmer didn't go in. She came round to see us yesterday and is traumatised from watching things unfold. DSiL is army trained and said he thought he was nearly going to die.

BlueBelle

Carriadagain no they wouldn’t go and find little individual coves as it all about the community feel and the crowds watching.
You wouldn’t have a football or rugby match without some form of control This annual event is a ‘sports’ event and needs safety aspects to be in control by safety officials
I feel strongly about this
The Devon event should have been called off as too dangerous and the council were in deficit not to do so but also it’s down to personal safety and unfortunately those two poor men didn’t respect the sea and its fury

I remember being in Spain one summers holiday and the beach was closed because it was deemed dangerous they had some police patrolling …Of course two men decided to defy the rules and go in, do I need to say they were Brits, anyway before you could say Jack Robinson , two policemen dragged them out clouting them with their batons as they did so. They had only got to knee depth but I bet they wouldn’t do it again.

To some people the "community feel and the crowds watching" is all part of it and yep...the local Facebook pages here have been full of Christmas swims (no sort of "control" I could spot).

But layering on "official rules etc" stuff or trying to stop these swims would then lead to lots of people in some areas at least (ie this one for sure) deliberately looking for secluded little coves and setting up campfires there whilst on the subject etc. People in some parts of the country at least know exactly how to find private places to do whatever they've decided - allowed or no....hence the impossibility of even thinking of banning things.

The police know exactly what to say in some areas if accosting people at unofficial gatherings - they say it (ie "A gathering of close friends is it?" - "Yes officer") and off they go again and the gathering continues.

MartavTaurus you can’t cancel something that is just ad hock
and everyone has the right to do what they want which is why people climb the highest mountain, follow twisters, and do every kind of extreme sport known to man unfortunately some will pay with their lives as in this case and it’s very very sad
If one of the men who died was a regular cold water swimmer he obviously underestimated the difference in the tide and waves that day Very very sad but very very foolish
As I said upthread I decided against it although our Christmas Day swim is very well organised and did go ahead without any incident but it’s very different as there is only a small cordoned off area to go in so you would not be away from the main safety aspects as in Devon it seemed a free for all

People will always think they can beat nature and they can’t