The outdoor swimming safety checklist

Experienced swimmers run through a few questions almost without thinking. Where are you getting out? Who knows you're here? Have you eaten? What is the water doing today? This checklist writes them down, with links to the guides that go deeper on each part.

How to use it

The questions sit in three sections:

• Safety: what you know before you go.
• Yourself: how you are today.
• Site: the water in front of you, with extra questions for lakes, rivers and the sea.

Each answer is safe, a caution or a danger. Read them together:

• Any single danger answer: don't swim.
• More than two cautions: take extra care, or choose not to swim.
• Anything else: stay careful at all times.

Counting them stops you waving small doubts away one at a time.

The checklist is a guide, only as good as the answers you give it. You are responsible for your own safety in the water, and if you're in any doubt, you can choose not to swim. Wild shows you the conditions; you make the call.

Section 1: Safety

Start with what you know before you go.

Cold water shock. Do you know what the cold shock response is, and how to deal with it? Not knowing either is a danger answer. The RNLI treats anything below 15°C as cold water, and says the sudden cooling of your skin causes an involuntary gasp and breathing that can run out of control. Read cold water shock before your first cold swim.

Dealing with cold shock. The answer is the RNLI's Float to Live: tilt your head back with your ears under the water, relax and control your breathing, and move your hands and legs gently to stay afloat. Once your breathing is under control, call for help or swim to safety.

Hypothermia. Not knowing what it is is also a danger answer. Understand how hypothermia can set in and what reduces the chances. Hypothermia: the signs covers what to look for in yourself and in the person next to you.

Panic. The answer is breathing: practise in for three, out for six, and if panic hits mid-swim, find a safe place to turn on your back and do a few rounds. Panic in the water explains how that fits with floating.

Other water users. Boats, jet skis, other swimmers, paddleboards. If there are any, or you aren't sure, that's a caution. Being visible helps: the RNLI recommends a brightly coloured swim hat and a tow float so you can be seen.

Who to call. Not knowing is a caution. In the UK, the RNLI says to call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard at the coast, or for Fire and Rescue if you're inland on a river or lake. Who to call if it goes wrong has the detail, including what they'll ask you.

Section 2: Yourself

This section is a check-in with yourself.

• When did you last eat? Eat at least an hour before a swim. Not having eaten for 3 to 12 hours is a caution. More than 12 hours is a danger.
• When did you last have a drink? The same bands. More than 12 hours without a drink is a danger.
• Did you sleep well? A caution if not. Consider skipping the swim, or keep it short and listen to your body.
• Are you feeling particularly stressed? A caution if yes. Keep it to a short dip, and leave fitness swimming for somewhere more controlled, like a pool.
• Do you have all your kit? There are four essentials: a tow float, a drink, a whistle and a mobile phone. Missing any of them is a caution.
• Is your kit laid out? In the order you'll put it back on, somewhere as dry as possible, so you're not losing time and getting colder when you get out. A caution if not.

Before you get in: the swimmer check goes through this section properly. Eaten, hydrated, slept covers the first three questions, and the open water kit list covers what to bring.

The RNLI agrees. Whatever your experience, if a swim doesn't feel right, getting out early, or not getting in at all, is nothing to be embarrassed about.

Section 3: Site

The last section is about the water itself. Every body of water is different, and the questions are a guide, not a substitute for your own judgement.

The forecast. Not checking it is a caution. Wild's spot pages show today's conditions: the weather, sea temperature at the coast and a modelled water temperature for lakes, tides at beaches, river level and rainfall on rivers, and the official bathing-water rating where a spot is a designated bathing water. There's also a 7-day forecast, and reports from swimmers who were actually there. Find a spot to check yours.

Designated swim areas and times. Is there a flagged, roped off or buoyed area for swimming, and are you swimming at an approved time? A "no" to either is a caution. See lifeguards, flags and designated swim areas.

Private land and permission. You should have the landowner's permission to cross private land, and permission to swim or a booked session. Some water is restricted for good reasons, so do your research first. Reservoirs and quarries explains why many of those say no.

Entry and exit. If you don't know the safest place to get in and out, don't swim. The RNLI makes the same point for places without lifeguard cover: know where you can enter and exit the water before you go in.

Lifeguards. No lifeguards is a caution: be extra vigilant, or choose not to swim. Where there are lifeguards, stay where they can see you.

Phone signal. No signal is a caution, with a blunt follow-up: how will you raise the alarm if something goes wrong?

Telling someone. The RNLI advises telling someone on shore where you're going and when you'll be back, so they can call for help if you're overdue. Better still, go with a buddy and look out for each other.

The questions for your water

Then there are questions for each type of water. Each one has its own complete guide.

Lakes

How deep and how big is the lake? Deeper and bigger lakes stay colder, even in summer, while smaller and shallower ones have a greater chance of poor water quality, such as blue-green algae blooms. A deep or large lake is a caution. So are inlets, which can bring pockets of colder water, and outlets, which can change the flow and draw you towards them. A lake that has had blue-green algae in the past is a caution. Algae now, or not being sure, is a danger. Read safe lake swimming, and blue-green algae before any summer lake swim.

Rivers

Heavy rain in the last 36 hours is a caution, because it can bring a much faster flow, more pollution and more debris. Locks and gates are a caution too, since swimming through them is forbidden in many places. Weirs are a danger: avoid them at all times, because of their strong and unpredictable currents. A tidal river is a caution, and not being able to swim against its tide is a danger. Read safe river swimming, and weirs if there's one anywhere near your swim.

The sea

Have you checked the tides? A caution if not. Does the timing work for the tide you'll be swimming with or against? A danger if not, or if you aren't sure. Can you swim against the tide or current if you need to? A "no" is a danger. Even a "yes" stays a caution: don't swim out of your depth or get too tired to swim back to shore. Not knowing what a rip is is a caution. Read safe sea swimming and rip currents.

The rest of the safety guides

Each of these takes one part of the checklist further.

• Cold water shock. What cold water does to your breathing and heart, why 15°C is the line UK guidance uses, how to float through the first minute, and how to get in gradually.
• Hypothermia. The signs in yourself and the person next to you, why you keep cooling after you get out, how to warm up, and when to call 999.
• Panic in the water. Why panic hits in open water, in-for-three, out-for-six breathing, and turning on your back to get your breath back.
• Who to call. Which service to ask for at the coast and inland, what they'll ask you, how to give your location, what to do without signal, and why someone should always know where you are.
• Lifeguards, flags and designated areas. What the beach flags mean, why lifeguard hours matter, and how swim areas and session times at managed venues change the picture.

Running it yourself

The first time you swim somewhere new, go through all three sections, including the questions for your type of water. It takes a few minutes, and most of the answers won't change next time.

Before every swim after that, run the short version. How are you today: eaten, drunk, slept, not too stressed? What are the weather and the water doing? Is your kit laid out, and does someone know where you are and when you'll be back?

If anything comes back as a danger, that's your answer for today. If the cautions start stacking up, take them seriously. The water will still be there tomorrow.

Sources

1. RNLI, Open water swimming
2. RNLI, Cold water shock
3. RNLI, Float to Live
4. RNLI, How to call for help at sea
5. Royal Life Saving Society UK, The Water Safety Code

This guide is general information, not a substitute for local knowledge or training. Conditions change: check them on the day, and if in doubt, don't go in. Images on the blog are illustrations, not pictures of specific spots.