Not a kayaker, but worth a mention

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/08/14/del-campo-high-football-team-remembers-coach-who-drowned-at-lake-tahoe/


With the upcoming tourney at Lake Tahoe I thought this was worth a mention.

His body went into shock???
Am I missing something? A 30 YO HS coach?
I guess it can happen to anyone.
The adage 'always wear a life jacket' comes to mind, but if you are attempting a rescue you may not have time for something like that. Plus you may have to dive down to actually make the rescue.
Sad sad news. Especially when it happens while attempting to help someone else. 

His body went into shock???
Am I missing something? A 30 YO HS coach?
I guess it can happen to anyone.
The adage 'always wear a life jacket' comes to mind, but if you are attempting a rescue you may not have time for something like that. Plus you may have to dive down to actually make the rescue.
Sad sad news. Especially when it happens while attempting to help someone else. 

I read that some people inhale with the shock of the cold water leading to drowning. I don't know it this was the cause or was he exposed for too long. Either way it sounds like the waters in Lake Tahoe are not to be taken lightly. And yes, it is a sad story. 

His body went into shock???
Am I missing something? A 30 YO HS coach?
I guess it can happen to anyone.
The adage 'always wear a life jacket' comes to mind, but if you are attempting a rescue you may not have time for something like that. Plus you may have to dive down to actually make the rescue.
Sad sad news. Especially when it happens while attempting to help someone else. 

I read that some people inhale with the shock of the cold water leading to drowning. I don't know it this was the cause or was he exposed for too long. Either way it sounds like the waters in Lake Tahoe are not to be taken lightly. And yes, it is a sad story.

I've dove Tahoe a lot with no wet suit. At first the water is cccold, but not too bad this time of year.
Dive down 6' and it's a whole different story.

Reminds me of Abking's story from last year, minus the happy result.

RIP

Reminds me of Abking's story from last year, minus the happy result.

RIP

Exactly. He was able to dive down no prob.
Eric and I were mack fishing Tahoe a LONG  ('06) time ago and he saw a skier down flag in 25 FOW. He dove down and grabbed it.
It was our first hook up together.
Right then I knew he was the real deal.
That's what has me so baffled about the whole shock thing. People swim and dive there all the time no problem.

Thanks, Mike.  The whole cold water shock thing confuses me too.  Apparently it's not uncommon for many people to have a very strong reaction to water that's cold like Tahoe or our north coast ocean which is normally in the low 50's.  I can remember as a little kid jumping in the Salmon River up past Somes Bar and feeling like it took my breath away.  It was always in the shallows and right there with my family, but I never felt like I was about to black out.

I think the really important thing to remember is that all of us have different tolerances for cold water, and those tolerances can and will vary based on our status at that moment.  The kid in Tahoe who drowned last summer while my family and I were there had been hanging out on a boat in a breeze on not the hottest day, and he was slim with not much body fat at all. 

Cold water - not to be taken lightly.

I found some more info.

http://m.kcra.com/news/deputy-who-drowned-in-lake-played-football-at-sac-state/34719372

Francies, his girlfriend, his sister and another man rented paddleboards and kayaks near the beach and were out in Lake Tahoe about 100 yards from shore in water with a depth of about 15 feet, according to South Lake Tahoe police.

Francies and his girlfriend were close together on their paddleboards, while his sister and the other friend were about 50 yards away from them.

Francies' sister fell off her kayak about 2:45 p.m. from a standing position, and the friend left his own kayak to help her. Once she was back onboard, the friend, with paddle in hand, began to swim back to the kayak, police said.

Because he was swimming with the paddle, it appeared to Francies that his friend needed help. Francies immediately jumped from his own paddleboard to swim to his friend, whom he thought was possibly drowning, according to investigators.

When Francies was about 20 feet from his paddleboard, he began to struggle to stay on the surface and called for his girlfriend, who is a registered nurse, to throw him a life jacket.

She tried to toss it to him, but the winds were too strong, and it fell short of Francies.

Francies' girlfriend jumped into the water to get the life jacket and bring it to him, but she could see Francies beginning to sink.

The girlfriend got to him before he sank completely, but Francies appeared to be unconscious, police said.

People nearby arrived to help bring Francies into shallow water and eventually pull him to shore on a paddlebaord, but he then was fully unconscious.

Francies' girlfriend began CPR on Francies as medical personnel arrived. Francies was taken to Barton Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead, officials said.

  The wind can get real gnarly up in the sierras.  It's usually not much of an issue on the smaller lakes but Tahoe is different.  There's actually a wind advisory for Lake Tahoe right now.  He jumped in without his life jacket and they had trouble getting to him.  I'm guessing he misjudged how good a swimmer he was and the conditions.  Even a great swimmer will run into trouble in high winds.

FROM THE STICKY AT THE TOP OF THIS FORUM

USCG cold water immersion video.  Old for many, might be new to some.  Worth the watch, it could save a life.

Thanks Crash!!!

FROM THE STICKY AT THE TOP OF THIS FORUM

USCG cold water immersion video.  Old for many, might be new to some.  Worth the watch, it could save a life.

That video is what made me make sure I had all safety gear and self rescue practice before going out in the ocean. 

I did not want to comment on this, as Jan and I were up there the day this happened.  Here Dad has a time share up there, by the Boat Launch/Public Beach. Can't tell you how many paddle boarders we saw, who were obviously new to it, not using a PFD, same with the rental kayakers.  It did not surprise me to hear of this.  Sorry it happened, but IMHO it could of been prevented.