So You Can Go Swimming!

[JennyMorgan]

13 minutes ago, MelHolland said:

Sorry just one final thing to JennyMorgan, it would be great if you could let me know where you got in touch via Facebook or the website? I’ve not received any alerts to any messages or comments on the Facebook page, and certainly haven’t deleted anything.

Ta,

Mel

Mel, I responded to the website & facebook in general, outlining my concerns. Now I am aware of the vagaries of facebook and very quickly my posting disappeared. I did not respond directly to your good self. 

I think that it would be a wise move on your part if you were to outline the obvious hazards to potential entrants so that they can judge for themselves before deciding whether to enter or not I note that some potential entrants have questioned whether the river would be closed to other users. .

My feeling is that you are attempting to force this event onto other river users. On the Broads we have the the NSBA, a body that represents boaters and one that also co-ordinates and advises on events, perhaps it would have been a wise move to have involved them, albeit they are not a swimming organisation. 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, dnks34 said:

It might have been said already but has Beccles Sailing club been informed.  It can be a difficult area to negiotiate when they are racing without swimmers in the water! 

That's an excellent point I'd forgot about the sailing club , can't see them taking it lieing down to be honest they like the whole river as it is 

[JennyMorgan]

12 minutes ago, batrabill said:

Its still there.... not deleted.

Thanks, Bill. I searched but couldn't find it. 

[Smoggy]

If the RNLI are providing assistance to this event I hope there is a chunk of any raised cash going their way as a donation especially as it's a commercial event, they only get funded by donations.

[Bound2Please]

Mel without teams if you get your 200 entrants when I went to school £70 entry = £14.000.00 so how do you think lucky to break even????.

[smellyloo]

9 minutes ago, Bound2Please said:

Mel without teams if you get your 200 entrants when I went to school £70 entry = £14.000.00 so how do you think lucky to break even????.

I feel uncomfortable with this interrogation I'm not sure it is anybody else's business

 

[JennyMorgan]

12 minutes ago, MelHolland said:

Hi Bound2Please, I can confirm that this is a commercial enterprise, but I can assure you that there isn’t bundles of cash being made. The event will be lucky to break even in the first year and will never make a lot of money. People always think they do, but it’s only the really big organisations that run events with 1000s of swimmers that do. That being said, our chosen charity of choice is the River Waveney Trust which we will promote to our community. There are a couple of other charities that will also be involved.

Ta, Mel

That this is a commercial enterprise, in my opinion, puts an entirely different slant on this event. We are being asked to move over so Mel's enterprise can make money. Sorry Mel, that's not on. If it were a charity event, all profits going to a charity rather than being hived off to a management company, then maybe that would be acceptable but that is obviously not the case.  Mel, you have made it abundantly clear that it is your hope that this event will grow, I would hope that it doesn't. I shall now be taking this up with the Broads Authority in their role as the Harbour Authority. 

[Vaughan]

It amuses me that one of my oldest friends, who I grew up with on the Broads, is the one who commented on the EDP article as "barking" but I can promise you he is no kill-joy, when it comes to having fun on the water!

I also am concerned about the amount of volunteer safety input that will be needed to make this happen in any kind of safety. I imagine the Hemsby Lifeboat will also be required to attend. It is also bound to need at least two BA ranger's launches as a minimum. Paid for, of course, by boat river tolls and not by swimmers.

[Bound2Please]

2 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

It amuses me that one of my oldest friends, who I grew up with on the Broads, is the one who commented on the EDP article as "barking" but I can promise you he is no kill-jo

I can assure you that i also am no kill joy, having helped organise and taken part in many raft races round Southend Pier (The longest pleasure peir in the world) all proceeds to the RNLI.

[grendel]

like others my concerns are several.

1 sailing vessels depending upon the direction of the wind, may have to sail certain stretches in a certain position on the river, they may even have to do short tacks from side to side using the full width of the river to progress against head winds.

2 as has been mentioned there are safety vessels, will there be enough of these to accommodate all 200 swimmers in an emergency situation, as soon as a safety vessel is attending to a potential casualty, you then have one less safety vessel available.

3. spectators. there will be few enough places where spectators / supporters can gain access to the river, to spectate or support, has sufficient thought been made to the traffic congestion / parking issues caused by these people to access the riverside, and has this been planned into any emergency response by ambulances that would need to use these same routes to evacuate casualties.

4 aside from all the above concerns there would have to be sufficient width of river left for two boats to comfortably pass in opposite directions, and while we know the Southern rivers are wider than their Northern brethren, there must be places where there will be insufficient width for two directional boating traffic and a gaggle of swimmers (I say Gaggle as they always remind me of a flock of geese flying by). At a minimum I would think that a buoyed lane must be set aside for the swimmers as a safety precaution.

[batrabill]

Hmmm.

I regret asking Mel to comment now, and I have advised her to not engage any more.

 

[dnks34]

Batrabill, I dont think any of us here hold any animosity toward Mel or her event, most of us just dont believe the Waveney is the right or appropriate location.

I still stand by my comment concerning boat owners being capitalised on forgeting the obvious safety concerns most of us have this in my opinion is not an appropriate use of any part of the Toll budget and it being a commercial enterprise (even though im sure much of the funds raised will go to charities) it makes it seem even more wrong. 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, dnks34 said:

Batrabill, I dont think any of us here hold any animosity toward Mel or her event, most of us just dont believe the Waveney is the right or appropriate location.

I still stand by my comment concerning boat owners being capitalised on forgeting the obvious safety concerns most of us have this in my opinion is not an appropriate use of any part of the Toll budget and it being a commercial enterprise (even though im sure much of the funds raised will go to charities) it makes it seem even more wrong. 

Well said my thoughts exactly 

[vanessan]

11 minutes ago, batrabill said:

Hmmm.

I regret asking Mel to comment now, and I have advised her to not engage any more.

 

I find that quite mystifying, what is your reasoning? Did you expect everybody who has concerns to put them aside?

[TheQ]

I've just looked at the Beccles sailing programme, and it looks like there is no racing sailing on 1st July..( there is the day before)

 

 

[MelHolland]

Hi guys,

This will be my last post on here.

Just to clear a couple of last things up:

- the RNLI certainly aren’t free or engaged just via donation, they charge for their services for events

- i’m actually raising money for them and the BHF with a 4way English Channel Relay later in the year, if you would like to donate, please do let me know and I’ll send you the link

- this really isn’t me forcing my will on anybody, there’s a lot of support from the swimming community wanting a swim like this in the broads, it’s just me that’s put my hand up to organise it

- i’ve engaged with all authorities i’ve been told to and have noted the boating group to get in contact with mentioned in a previous post

- all swimmers upon entry are asked to sign up to the risks

- additional safety information will be disseminated to entrants at various intervals prior to event day

- i’m certainly not making money, it can be surprising all the costs that are required to put an event on like this, not least the safety provision. My finances are my business though

- as mentioned before all day boat hire and sailing clubs will be notified, I have been given a list. I don’t think it’s comprehensive so I’m doing the research to find everyone and anyone to notify them

- if you’re still not happy, I think contacting authorities is the right way to go.

So with that, I want to say thank you to everyone who has provided support and/or constructive feedback. 

Please do get in contact via the website if you have any further queries, I won’t be responding to anything further on here.

I hope you all have a lovely day and a wonderful Easter weekend.

Ta, Mel

[grendel]

14 minutes ago, batrabill said:

Hmmm.

I regret asking Mel to comment now, and I have advised her to not engage any more.

 

so in your view all of our concerns over the safety aspects of the event, and questions to ascertain whether certain aspects have been considered are irrelevant, because nearly everyone else does not share your views.

 I for one would like to hear Mels answers on many of the points raised, and would like to think that these points had been considered.

Or is it that if the questions raised here are not seen, then the risk doesnt exist, and a contingency assessment does not have to be prepared to ameliorate said risks.

[Chelsea14Ian]

Sadly I also think this is not a good idea.For me the following being my reasons. The date just entering high season Still not convinced about safety to mix boats many of which will be inexperienced. The cost which we as boaters may bare.The location which I feel is wrong sorry but that's how  I feel.Also can't get over the fact that on one hand BA discourage swimming that allow open water swimming to 200 people. Odd

[Bound2Please]

I can see the BA getting a lot of mail and phone calls over this, maybe even personnel visits as well !!!

edited to add that this was sold to the BA in my opinion on the tourism theme.

[smellyloo]

I guess it is important that every broadland event meets the exactING safety scrutiny and approval from nbn members?

If so nothing would ever happen.

 

[dnks34]

4 minutes ago, Bound2Please said:

I can see the BA getting a lot of mail and phone calls over this, maybe even personnel visits as well !!!

 

I was just about to say the same.  

There must be other more suitable locations in Suffolk/Norfolk anyone who knows anything about the Broads would see this wasnt a good idea in navigable areas. 

If it had to be the Waveney the upper reaches would have been far better in my opinion, the WRC isnt exactly any easy place for a “coach” to get to either. 

[grendel]

24 minutes ago, smellyloo said:

I guess it is important that every broadland event meets the exactING safety scrutiny and approval from nbn members?

If so nothing would ever happen.

 

Not particularly, but it would be nice to know that all of the safety concerns had been addressed, particularly intermediate access points to the river and keeping them clear for the emergency services, from looking at the map there are very few tracks that lead to the river, and these will need to be kept clear for emergency vehicles, as you could not expect a safety boat to ferry a casualty back to the start or finish, so if there are supporters and spectators who flock to the area to watch the progress, these tracks will soon become impassable through traffic buildup.

[Guest]

Despite being a keen swimmer and a supporter of open water events in general, I too have many concerns about this event but as is usually the way with these things it appears the decision has already been made. A Ltd company was set up in January, Norfolk Broads Swimming Ltd so I presume the BA gave the green light before this and we can expect more events to follow in the future on different parts of the system?

 

[Vaughan]

What about the Wonderful Whitlingham Gravel Pits? Might make good use of them for a change. Loads of open water, access for spectators all round the bank and virtually no other water users to disturb. Just be careful you don't get fined £100 for mis-understanding the rules in the car park.

Actually I don't think there would be that much hire cruiser traffic on a Sunday as the north rivers boats would not be there then and there are very few hire yards left now, in the south. On the first of July though, there would be a  heavy traffic of trippers in hired day boats from Oulton Broad and elsewhere. How do they hope to control those?

[Guest]

45 minutes ago, smellyloo said:

I guess it is important that every broadland event meets the exactING safety scrutiny and approval from nbn members?

If so nothing would ever happen.

 

Not a worthy statement really , the NBN carry's no weight with safety groups or events , however it clearly has an opinion and the majority have stated that its not the right area ie that stretch of river and I for one agree , I don't think anyone is being a killjoy at all but I do see a lot of common sense and experience .