Post by Coate Water on Dec 3, 2008 10:24:44 GMT -5
www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/3829593.Coate_Water_danger_dive_caught_on_film/
Coate Water danger dive caught on film
8:50am Monday 10th November 2008
By Emily Walker »
YOUTHS have filmed themselves plummeting off the Coate Water diving board into the cold grey water below – and posted the footage on the internet.
The group of youngsters can be seen diving into the lake at the Swindon beauty spot, in a minute-long clip on video site You Tube.
The shaky footage starts with one young man standing on the top of the 30ft high board, before leaping off. His friend can then be seen taking a run up before splashing into the water.
One of the daredevils who posted the film on the internet described it as “Me Jamie Symonds and Matt Woodward jump of top of diving board at Coate Water in Swindon.”
The teenage boys in the film can be seen shuddering as they hit the water, and the amateur film maker filming the escapade can be heard laughing.
Swindon Council, which owns Coate Water, said it would recommend people do not jump off the diving board.
Council spokesman Richard Freeman said: “The water quality is not good and the water isn’t quite as deep as it was in the 1950s.
“The diving board is covered in duck mess as well, so more from a health perspective than anything else we wouldn’t recommend it.
“There is lots of stuff floating in that water and you certainly wouldn’t want to swallow any of it.”
Mr Freeman said he did not think the stunt was as dangerous as “tombstoning”, the craze of jumping off cliffs and structures into water, often the sea.
According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, 1,226 people were admitted to hospital between 1997 and 2004, after diving or jumping into water in England.
One hundred and six of those casualties did not survive their injuries.
The diving board at Coate Water was first built out of wood in 1922. The platform was replaced with the current concrete diving stage, designed by JBL Thompson, in 1935.
It was officially opened by Swindon mayor Reuben George – and he even took the first to dive from it. It took the politician so long to resurface, onlookers began to fear he had drowned.
The diving board was a popular feature at the park after being opened to the general public, but it was shut in the 1970s.
Coate Water danger dive caught on film
8:50am Monday 10th November 2008
By Emily Walker »
YOUTHS have filmed themselves plummeting off the Coate Water diving board into the cold grey water below – and posted the footage on the internet.
The group of youngsters can be seen diving into the lake at the Swindon beauty spot, in a minute-long clip on video site You Tube.
The shaky footage starts with one young man standing on the top of the 30ft high board, before leaping off. His friend can then be seen taking a run up before splashing into the water.
One of the daredevils who posted the film on the internet described it as “Me Jamie Symonds and Matt Woodward jump of top of diving board at Coate Water in Swindon.”
The teenage boys in the film can be seen shuddering as they hit the water, and the amateur film maker filming the escapade can be heard laughing.
Swindon Council, which owns Coate Water, said it would recommend people do not jump off the diving board.
Council spokesman Richard Freeman said: “The water quality is not good and the water isn’t quite as deep as it was in the 1950s.
“The diving board is covered in duck mess as well, so more from a health perspective than anything else we wouldn’t recommend it.
“There is lots of stuff floating in that water and you certainly wouldn’t want to swallow any of it.”
Mr Freeman said he did not think the stunt was as dangerous as “tombstoning”, the craze of jumping off cliffs and structures into water, often the sea.
According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, 1,226 people were admitted to hospital between 1997 and 2004, after diving or jumping into water in England.
One hundred and six of those casualties did not survive their injuries.
The diving board at Coate Water was first built out of wood in 1922. The platform was replaced with the current concrete diving stage, designed by JBL Thompson, in 1935.
It was officially opened by Swindon mayor Reuben George – and he even took the first to dive from it. It took the politician so long to resurface, onlookers began to fear he had drowned.
The diving board was a popular feature at the park after being opened to the general public, but it was shut in the 1970s.