The Atlantic, a dangerous playground

Tourists sometimes tend to forget itBut with its currents and waves, the Atlantic remains a dangerous playground. Even in the face of the recommendations of the lifeguards present at the water’s edge, some bathers in Couarde-sur-Mer (Charente-Maritime) do what they see fit. “The lady who supervises the swimming, wanted to get me out of the water because there was a current and big waves. There was a marked dangerous swimming, they wanted me to go somewhere else, but I did not go“says one of them. An imprudence that pushes rescuers to do even more prevention.

On the beaches of Saint-Martin-en-Ré, the goal is to get the message across. “We are at low tide, there is a lot of current, you have to be attentive and especially not fight if you get caught in it“recalls Rahania Sabana, lifeguard. Even on this quiet beach, the currents are present, rescuers have already had to intervene fifteen times. In the south of Charente-Maritime, if the baths look like quiet pools, at low tide it becomes In a veritable trap in the rising tide, according to French public health, 168 bathers have drowned since the beginning of June.