You've been seeing them on the Bavarian lakes for years: stand-up paddlers. However, due to the increasing number alone, there are more and more accidents, including fatal ones. The German Life Saving Society is concerned.
Munich (dpa / lby) - At least four people died stand-up paddling (SUP) on Bavarian lakes in the current year alone. In addition to the case of Lake Ammer last week, there was a death at Lake Starnberg, Lake Murner (Schwandorf district) and Lake Weißenstädter (Wunsiedel district), as a spokesman for the Bavarian department of the DLRG water rescue organization said. "There tends to be more and more because there are more and more paddlers." Accordingly, the German Life Saving Society is very concerned.
From the point of view of the association, the two groups most affected are non-swimmers and seniors who have health problems on the water. Even with the fall of Lake Ammer last week, the 16-year-old could not swim, the spokesman said. According to the police, the teenager had already gone down several 100 meters from the north bank on Friday evening. The body was only located on Sunday afternoon and recovered by divers.
The DLRG recommends that paddlers always wear a life jacket and a so-called leash. This safety line connects the board to the paddler and prevents it from floating away on calm waters. You should always be at least two people and paddle along the shoreline if possible.
So far, around 50 people have drowned in Bavaria in 2022, the spokesman said. The figures, which tended to be higher than in the same period last year, were also related to the good bathing weather - "more people simply go into the water". In the whole of 2021, 60 people drowned in Bavaria's rivers, lakes and other bodies of water, more than in any other federal state.
