Safety expert warns of dangers with swimming in area rivers ahead of holiday weekend, hot temps

DAYTON — In the aftermath of the suspected drowning death of a Dayton girl in the Mad River, local experts are warning people about the dangers of swimming in area rivers and why they’re designed for boating.

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The body of Nora Cal, 9, was found Monday after she was pulled downstream in the Mad River Saturday afternoon. Investigators said she was wading in the river when she likely stepped into a steep drop-off.

The area where Cal was in the water has a sign up that says swimming is prohibited. Cliff Fawcett of Massie Creek Paddlers, an organization that promotes padding sports in the region said rivers provide several safety concerns for swimmers.

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“With these hot temperatures, it’s really tempting to go down to the river, cool down. It just looks so inviting. But in my years of experience on the river, rivers can be very dangerous,” Fawcett told News Center 7′s John Bedell Tuesday.

Fawcett said river features, like the one in the Mad River where Cal was before she went underwater, are designed to be fun for boaters. But the river, and features in the river, are dangerous for people getting into the water.

“The moving water can suck you under in a heartbeat, it can go from very shallow to very deep all of a sudden. And those whitewater features were designed for boaters. For kayakers, for canoeists. And to go in there without a life jacket, it’s dangerous,” he said.

Fawcett said protecting yourself and your family is as simple as swimming only in areas where it is permitted and wearing a life jacket when boating.

“A life jacket at least fives you a fighting chance where it can bring you up,” he said.

Fawcett added rivers, especially in our area, are always more powerful and moving quicker than they first appear.

“There’s just so much power - you get that much water - let’s say four feet of water moving at four miles an hour, that’ll take a car away so you think about a human being or a little kid and it just sweeps you right under before you know it,” he said.

With hot temperatures in the forecast this week, and with a holiday weekend coming up as well, MetroParks rangers encourage people who might consider swimming in a river to choose a different water attracting to cool off, such as a pool or splash pad.

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