Sea swimmers urge public to assess sea conditions

Sue Duport said "bathing pools are a wonderful facility for our islands but we all have to be respectful of the sea"

A sea swimming group has expressed concerns over members of the public swimming in the sea in "less than safe" conditions.

Min Henry, part of the Guernsey Swim All Seasons group, said: "The sea can be a roaring beast. Please put your safety first."

Group member Sue Duport added that going in all weathers was fine but going in all conditions was not.

She said: "We are not the swim police. Nobody is trying to say to somebody do not swim, all we're saying is please assess the conditions."

'Respectful of the sea'

Ms Duport said that it could be tricky to make the decision not to swim once "you've got your car parked or walked down to the bathing pools".

She said: "Our mantra is 'If in doubt, stay out'... Bathing pools are a wonderful facility for our islands but we all have to be respectful of the sea."

She added the Swim all Seasons Facebook page had a daily report of the weather, wind speeds and direction.

"The other thing we need to be mindful of is, when it's very windy, the sea gets churned up.

"You can't see actually what's underfoot and, for an inexperienced swimmer, losing your footing on something like that... you'll be rolled over in the waves. We get a lot of rebound from the walls," she said.

Ms Duport added an ideal scenario would be a beach guard or a flag to show different conditions, but Guernsey being an island with so many beaches made that impractical.

She said: "We've got a lot of lifebuoys around the island and certainly, as a group, we would advocate if you're swimming out of your depth having a tow float with you."