Timeline: Beach safety in Manitoba

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/08/2016 (3443 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former lifeguard’s warning about drowning danger at Grand Beach seems tragically accurate after the deaths of two children on Monday.

In 1971, R.T. Ransom, identified as an ex-lifeguard, wrote a letter to the editor calling Grand Beach a death trap.

“If you drown in Grand Beach you will be this type of person: You will be young, but not too young. You will be between the ages of eight and 18, more than likely at the ‘Mommy I can do it myself,’ stage.”He noted the places for the worst currents were at the channel by the third lifeguard tower and at the other end “under the noses of people in the hotel.”

His public warnings seemed eerily percipient after a 12-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl drowned on Monday at Grand Beach. One parent was watching the children when they apparently slipped out of sight.

The issue of water safety at provincial swimming sites has often been the subject of Free Press stories: