Bathing tragedy on the Baltic Sea: 80-year-old woman dies while swimming!

Bathing tragedy on the Baltic Sea: 80-year-old woman dies while swimming!

We received sad news from the Baltic Sea: An 80-year-old woman from the Rostock district died during a swimming trip near Kühlungsborn. According to the Baltic Sea newspaper The rescue control center received an emergency call around 6 p.m. from a relative who was on the beach and reported that the woman had been missing from the water for 15 minutes.

The water police forces immediately began searching for the missing person. After about half an hour, a rescue helicopter discovered her about 80 meters from the coast. Unfortunately, the rescue workers were no longer able to resuscitate her. This tragic incident marks the fourth swimming accident this season.

Swimming accidents in the Baltic Sea

The situation on our shores is alarming. There have already been three more fatal swimming accidents this season: a 65-year-old swimmer died on May 15th near the Prerow pier, a lifeless woman from Berlin was discovered off Dierhagen on June 4th, and on June 15th a 71-year-old vacationer had a fatal accident.

According to the German Life Saving Society (DLRG), 2024 was a year full of swimming accidents: a total of 29 people drowned in the waters of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, while 20 swimming deaths were recorded in the previous year. But the numbers for all of Germany are even more frightening. In 2023, 411 people drowned nationwide, an increase of 31 deaths compared to the previous year. It is the first time since 2019 that the number of swimming deaths has risen above 400 DLRG reports.

Connections and preventive measures

DLRG President Ute Vogt expressed the hope that people would be made aware of the dangers associated with swimming in these warm months. Older people and those with health problems are particularly vulnerable to swimming accidents, especially during the summer months. In 2024, 48 percent of victims drowned during this time, and over 60 percent of those affected were over 50 years old.

In order to increase safety in the water, the DLRG relies on preventative measures. There's a new campaign to educate parents of young children about particularly dangerous situations when bathing. In addition, the DLRG sees a worrying number of primary school children leaving school without learning to swim - around 20 percent, while half of the children cannot swim safely.

The number of bathing deaths in Germany was high again in 2024, with 411 victims, most of them in the North and Baltic Seas. A clear reminder that we all need to pay more attention to water safety to avoid tragic incidents like this.