NSW Police said the Sydney man, believed to be 50 years old, went under at about 8pm and failed to resurface which prompted one friend to try and find him while another called emergency services for assistance.
Members of the Corowa Search and Rescue squad arrived immediately after receiving the call out and were able to retrieve the man’s body from the river in approximately 20 minutes according to squad member, Peter Wright.
Mr Wright said he was able to locate the body quickly enough before the rescue became much more complicated.
“Saturday’s unfortunate incident highlights the fact that if you can get onto the water early, your chances of recovering the victim are much more likely before they can wind up miles downstream,” he told the Free Press.
“It’s obviously an absolute tragedy for family and friends regardless, but I think if you’re able to find someone quickly it allows closure.”
Police have been told the man was with five friends about 1.30pm when they entered the river and over a number of hours floated an estimated five kilometres from Federation Bridge to John Foord Bridge.
A report is now being prepared for the coroner.
Mr Wright said that it’s important that people take the important steps to ensure their safety before stepping into the water.
“Unfortunately what is the case with the drowning black spot that is the Murray River, it appears that this, like many other situations, might have potentially been one of those avoidable incidents.
People floating down the river need to be wearing life jackets or some other means of support, and unfortunately this gentleman wasn’t.
Panic is one of the major contributors to drowning in the river so it’s important that when you get into trouble; try to keep your head above water, do not attempt to swim against the current and just go with the flow. If you win up a kilometer downstream it doesn’t matter, you’ll eventually come to the bank or come to a snag and you can grab onto something.”
The Royal Life Saving Society Australia have been urging swimmers to ‘Make the Right Call’ this summer, after research carried they carried out revealed some stark findings.
According to research, Inland waterways have accounted for nearly 40% of all drowning deaths in Australia over the past 10 years. Of these deaths, over 80% were male, most of them occurred in the summer months (41%) and 32% involved alcohol.
From 2009 to 2019, 2855 people lost their lives to drowning. Nationally, an overwhelming 2262 of these deaths were male; of these, 837 deaths occurred in inland waterways, 287 of which involved alcohol.
The research puts this down to risk-taking behaviours involving poor-decision making, such as alcohol consumption and not wearing a lifejacket while recreating on water, as well as swimming alone.
From 2009/10 to 2018/19, in NSW there were 987 deaths; 780 (79%) were male; 354 (36%) occurred in inland waterways; 190 (19%) were known to involve alcohol and 359 (36%) occurred in Summer.
Alcohol reduces coordination and can impair a person’s judgement and reaction time, thereby reducing inhibition and distorting the perception of risk. Wearing a lifejacket can increase a person’s chance of survival by 50%. Isolated natural aquatic environments increase the risk of drowning due to changeable conditions and geographical remoteness.
“Our data suggests that men, recreating in our inland waterways in the summer, while consuming alcohol is a deadly cocktail,” Justin Scarr, CEO of Royal Life Saving said.
“More needs to be done to educate men on the risks and the consequences of their actions when recreating in, on and around the water, which is why we are launching our ‘Make the Right Call’ campaign, aimed at men to keep themselves and their mates safe around aquatic environments.”
Royal Life Saving’s ‘Make the Right Call’ campaign highlights a common sense approach and advocates simple safety tips for men and women to prevent drowning:
Avoid alcohol around water
Wear a lifejacket when boating or using watercraft
Avoid swimming or recreating alone
“Drowning is a preventable killer. We need to change people’s attitude to risk and their behaviours around water – especially men,” Mr Scarr said.
“Most people think ‘it won’t happen to me’. Our work shows that poor decision making can lead to tragedy. That’s why we’re asking people to share the responsibility of keeping everyone safe around the water and to ‘make the right call’ – love the water, enjoy the water but do it safely while looking after yourselves and your mates.”
For more information about Royal Life Saving, visit www.royallifesaving.com.au
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