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Swamping Database
About Our Database
Please help us get a better idea of how often boats become swamped, and what happens when they do. We need information on any swamping and/or sinking incident, however minor, even if no person or equipment was damaged. It could be something that happened way in the past, or just yesterday.
There is no existing international, publicly accessible database of rowing accidents or fatalities. We want to establish some idea of the prevalence of boat swamping incidents, and to look for common factors.
We have made an anonymised database of those incidents which have actually been informally reported to us, or that we have come across on RSR, or in media reports within the last 18 months. We have not made any organised searches, so it may be that these incidents are only the tip of the iceberg, we just don’t know.
Some of the information we already have is sketchy, but some is fully detailed. Please give as much detail as you can, following the headings in the table. It is useful to know if safety boats were in attendance, and whether they were effective or not.
When you look at the database, it is striking that even this informal collection shows some depressingly common themes. For example “a sudden unexpected change in weather” crops up time and again.
NB To avoid confusion, by “swamping” we mean the filling of a boat with water, and by “sinking” we mean the boat going below the surface of the water (even if only just).
Jane and Stephen Blockley
The database
108 records, 91 unnecessary deaths.
Date |
Location |
Boat |
Construction |
Outcome |
Details |
c1993 |
Bewl Bridge Reservoir |
1x |
Wooden Colley |
All safe |
more details |
May 1998 |
Albert Dock (London Docklands Regatta) |
1x |
Wooden Colley |
All safe |
more details |
23 Mar 2008 |
River Rhine |
4 |
Unknown |
All four self-rescued through wearing PFDs |
more details |
24 May 2008 |
Holme-Pierrepont, Nottingham, England |
Multiple 8s, crewed by children |
Under-buoyant Empacher, Vespoli, Resolutes |
Only the last minute intervention of safety launches saved other immersed children from possibly being mowed down. All were rescued, but not all escaped injury, and some were hypothermic. The rest of the two day programme was cancelled. |
more details |
06 Mar 2008 |
River Maine, Angers, France |
8+ |
Under-buoyant |
he crew were all rescued by an accompanying safety boat. A safety boat brought back 6 of the crew + 2 rescuers. A second boat retrieved the eight, and brought back the three remaining crew. All were wet, but not too cold and all fine |
more details |
31 Mar 2007 |
Tideway, London |
Many 8+ |
Various |
Multiple boats swamped or sank at the Head of the River Race, causing the race to be abandoned, and safety launches to rescue crews from the water. |
more details |
3rd Apr 2007 |
Branched Oak Lake, Nebraska |
8+ |
Vespoli |
Boat swamped by large waves whipped up by wind, submerged. End compartments snapped off the main body of the shell, and launch capsized.
Coach handed life jackets to the crew. 9 crew members and the coach swam to shore after 1 hours in water. One crew member rescued from middle of lake.
All 10 hospitalised and treated for hypothermia. |
more details |
02 Oct 2004 |
Alleghany River, Pittsburgh, PA |
4+ |
Unk |
Boat fully swamped by high waves, everyone rescued |
more details |
07 Feb 2006 |
St. John's River, Jacksonville Florida |
8+ |
Vespoli |
Boat fully swamped by high waves, everyone rescued |
more details |
22 Jan 2004 |
Tampa, Florida |
8+ |
Vespoli |
Crew rescued in the dark by coastguard and police launch |
more details |
April 2002 |
Charles River, Boston |
various |
various |
Race cancelled but some swamped on way back - all rescued safely |
more details |
2 May 2004 |
Swan River, Western Australia |
8+ |
timber framed single skin fibreglass construction, open
bulkheads into canvases |
Crew forced to leave the boat and swam it to shore.
All OK |
more details |
6 Aug 2003 |
Schinias Olympic Rowing Lake, Greece. Junior World Championships |
multiple 8+ |
various |
GB and US JM8+ sank in high winds. Rescue boats on hand. |
more details |
Feb 2004 |
Tideway |
8+ |
Empacher |
Boat swamped by wake, crew made it to shore. |
more details |
22 Feb 2004 |
Nottingham - Head of the Trent |
various |
various |
several shells swamped, at least 7 sank. All rescued |
more details |
21 Mar 2004 |
Tideway, London (Vets HORR) |
8+ |
various |
various eights, about 145 in all
Outcome - chaos, but all rescued by RNLI. 2 taken to hospital. |
more details |
18 May 2004 |
Potomac River |
8+ |
unknown |
9 rescued by police boats, having been summoned by the chase boat.
No injuries |
more details |
27 Apr 2004 |
Potomac River |
Two 8+ |
unknown |
Two eights swamped. 18 crew pulled from the river by police and
fire boats. |
more details |
Sept 2004 |
Gothenburg harbour |
8+ |
oldish wooden eight, open construction |
A women's eight swamped and sank - everybody rescued |
more details |
25 Sept 2004 |
Roodeplaat Dam, Pretoria, SA |
various |
various |
3 boats swamped. 1 sank, 1 broke up and sank. Everybody OK |
more details |
May 3, 2004 |
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Ca |
1x |
unknown |
One dead |
more details |
1897 |
near Dassow, Germany |
4+ |
pre 1900 boat, open wooden construction |
Two dead |
more details |
February 2004 |
Orlando, Florida USA |
4+ |
Vespolo Millennium |
No-one hurt |
more details |
Good Friday 1984 |
Wolziger See (Lake Wolzig near Berlin) |
Unknown |
Unknown |
One dead after swamping |
more details |
July 1970 |
Danube between Slovakia and Hungary, International Tour of the Danube |
4+ |
Open wooden recreational shell |
4+ swamped by wake, crew had to swim to bank. |
more details |
Christmas 1999 |
Ely, UK |
4+ |
Janousek |
Four capsized in winds while spinning. All OK in the end |
more details |
January 9, 2001 |
Lake Fuchu, Japan |
1x |
|
One dead |
more details |
1978 |
Thames |
8+ |
|
They got to the bank, where there was no help available and had to run some 5km to the home of
one of them. They were very hypothermic despite their exertions. They were in desperate straits when they reached the house ('working only on autopilot'). Getting indoors they went straight to the airing cupboard & covered themselves
in warm laundry. |
more details |
September 2000 |
South coast Champs. UK |
4+ |
Janousek |
Janousek swamped, rowed slowly to safety. Race abandoned. |
more details |
31 December 1995 |
Non-tidal Thames |
8+ |
Janousek |
Managed to row back to club |
more details |
June 1st 2003 |
English Channel - south of Isle of Wight |
Coastal 4+ |
Burgashell - open under seats |
Crew was able to row boat into calmer water, transfer to accompanying RIB, bailed out and back underway shortly. Note that boat remained upright and stable without crew whilst one person stayed aboard to bail the boat. Sealed watertight compartments below seats would almost certainly have allowed the crew to row through the choppy water without incident. The boat has 3 self-bailers fitted but these were not effective in preventing the boat from flooding. |
more details |
Late 1990's |
Tideway, London |
4+ (bowloader) |
Janousek-style |
Managed to 'row' the boat to shore whereby approximately 12 people were required to take it from the water. All people involved were uninjured. |
more details |
March 1998 |
Snake River, Pullman WA USA |
8+ |
Late 80's Pocock |
Even though one team member could not swim, all were safely rescued by launch |
more details |
June 22, 2003 |
tempe, az |
4+ |
open/kaschper |
Rowers able to bail out the hull enough to row to shore. all safe |
more details |
Late 2002 |
Canal, Brussels |
4x |
MPS, sealed underseat compartments |
Crew were able to row back to the pontoon within 2-3 minutes of the incident, hampered only by the continuing heavy swell. |
more details |
August 1974 |
Hammersmith |
8+ |
Open |
All rescued but cox (poor swimmer) stranded with one section of the boat and rowers with the other - one of the rowers had to swim to him and assist him back to the main group - very hazardous. |
more details |
June 2001 |
Lowerrhine (Nederrijn), The Netherlands, Km 903 |
Two C4+ touring boats |
Wood and open, no extra buoyancy measures taken or obligated for this race |
Rescue boat present at the race location. Both crews rescued at once. |
more details |
1993/1994 |
Medway, Rochester, UK |
4+, crew under weight for boat, countless others |
Janousek, |
Many non-coastal boats swamped, one pair sank and found down the river. Incredibly lucky to have nobody drown or suffer hypothermia. I do not know what happened to any other clubs present. |
more details |
10 June 2003 |
Tiverton, RI |
1x |
buoyant |
no harm done except ego. I flipped boat back and swam to shore with boat, oars and equipment in tact. was wearing life jacket. no assistance necessary. |
more details |
Fall 1992 |
Boston Charles River, basin |
2x4 |
2 buoyant Vespoli fiberglass 4s |
All safe. Coach's launches emptied out crews and took to shore. Freshmen team came down and carried fours home to boathouse over land. |
more details |
late August, 1996 |
Syracuse, New York, USA |
1x |
sealed deck |
She was in the water only about 3 minutes before being rescued by safety launches. All small-boat racing was cancelled for the rest of the day. Ernestine said she felt warm and comfortable within 15 to 20 minutes after being rescued. |
more details |
October, 2001 |
Rockford, Illinois, USA |
several 2x's and a few quads |
open under seats, but sealed deck compartments |
We had such a big lead with a mile to go that we still won the race, and the rowing kept us nicely warm. All others were able to either row to the finish or were rescued safely. If the air or the water had been colder that day, it would have been very dangerous. |
more details |
Winter 1979 (?) |
Charleston WVa |
8+ |
Wood, Sectional Schoenbrod, Late 70's model, Open |
all rescued, no injuries, boat damaged but repaired |
more details |
April, 2003 |
Charles River, Boston, MA |
Novice 4+ |
1985 Schoenbrod |
All came to the surface. One couldn't get feet out of lace style shoes until boat was swum over to shore. All had seen USRA safety video and said this helped them know to stay with the boat. Cold water was shocking and it took 10 minutes to get oriented and swim the boat 15 feet to shore. Everyone went to the hospital because of fear of hypothermia. Everyone ok and returned to practice the next day.
Safety launch would have allowed kids to get out of water much sooner and probably prevented the hospital trip as this happened 100 meters from the boathouse. New velcro shoes for the boat were waiting to be installed. |
more details |
February 2003 |
Seattle, WA |
1x |
Sealed decks & under seat racing single |
Rescued by Jan Harville, UW coach |
more details |
Fall, 2001 |
Toledo, Ohio (Maumee River) |
8+ (Vespoli) |
Sealed bow and stern |
All rescued safely. |
more details |
Summer 1996 |
Seattle, WA |
4+ |
70's era Pocock |
All rowers picked up within 5 minutes by coaches launch, boat towed (without damage!) back to house. |
more details |
December 2002 / Jan 2003 |
Swan River, Perth W.A |
8+ |
Sykes, wing rigger (very low cut gunwhales and no V-deck) |
Crew swam boat to shore. No injuries. No damage to equipment. |
more details |
June 22, 2003 |
Aiken, South Carolina |
4x |
Hudson Sport, open under seats |
Rowers and equipment were fine.
All returned to the launching dock safely by attending regatta launches. Did not even effect result of race (other than the time) - delayed regatta less than 15 minutes to clear them from the course. |
more details |
June 2, 2003 |
Mississippi River, Minneapolis, MN, USA |
two 2x's |
New Hudson, buoyant |
One double rescued by coach, the others climbed back in and rowed home. All safe. |
more details |
May 12,2003 |
Mississippi River , Minneapolis, MN, USA |
2- |
Aylings(?) buoyant |
All safe |
more details |
Early 80s |
Greece |
unknown |
unknown |
One member of the crew dies |
more details |
|
Rideau Canal, Ottawa |
8+ |
open construction |
Crew abandoned boat, scrambled up canal wall, emptied boat it, climbed back in and then continued to race. |
more details |
Autumn, 1995 (approx) |
Ottawa River, Ottawa |
8+ |
Open construction |
Crew rescued by accompanying coach boats |
more details |
1990, plus/minus a couple of years |
Ottawa River, Ottawa |
4+, |
open construction |
Crew rescued by safety boats |
more details |
Nov 1975 |
Columbia University, NY, USA |
8+ |
|
One oarsman drowned. "He clung to the boat until the numbness in his fingers forced him to let go. It would be spring before his body rose to the surface and was found floating near the Brooklyn Bridge." |
more details |
early 1990s (1993?) |
Hamburg, Germany |
Gig 4x+ |
Open Construction |
Took a while to rescue the crew. No way to escape the scene due to the high walls at the shore. |
more details |
mid 1990s |
Ratzeburg, Germany |
8+ |
Open construction |
All safe |
more details |
? |
Tideway, London, UK |
|
Janousek |
|
more details |
? |
Notts City, UK |
|
Janousek |
|
more details |
? |
Dartmouth Regatta, UK |
|
Janousek |
|
more details |
? |
Jacksonville, Florida USA |
|
|
Rescued |
more details |
? |
Orlando, Florida USA |
|
|
Rescued |
more details |
? |
Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
|
|
Rescued |
more details |
? |
Howey-In-The-Hills, Florida USA |
|
|
Rescued |
more details |
? |
Sanford, Florida USA |
|
|
Rescued |
more details |
? |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
Bow coxed 4 |
|
Rescued |
more details |
? |
Melbourne, Florida, USA |
Multiple 8+ |
|
Rescued |
more details |
A few yrs ago ?Oct 1999 |
Tideway, London, UK |
8+ |
Wooden open |
Crew of 9 schoolgirls had to swim ashore. |
more details |
18 May 2003 |
Notts city, UK |
Two 4+ |
One was buoyant Janousek |
Janousek crew made it to the side with assistance |
more details |
16 May 2003 |
Brussels canal |
4+ |
Open old style wooden Stampfli |
Extremities feeling chilled by the time they reached safety. |
more details |
11 May 2003 |
St Catherines, Canada |
4+ |
|
Rescued by launches |
more details |
9-10 May 2003 |
Swan River, Perth, WA |
Four 8+ |
One was a KIRS 8 |
Rescued by passing powerboat. Crew very cold |
more details |
4 May 2003 |
Holme Pierrepoint, Notts, UK (BUSA) |
4+ |
Janousek |
|
more details |
3 May 2003 |
Lake Ontario, Toronto, Canada |
Four 8+ |
|
Rescued by safety boat and passing police boat. 2 treated in hosp for hypothermia. Others treated on site |
more details |
29 Mar 2003 |
Housatonic River, Connecticut, USA |
Two 8+ |
|
Rescued by safety boats within 5 minutes. All 18 treated in hospital. |
more details |
26 Mar 2003 |
Chickahominy River, Virginia, USA |
8+ and 4+ |
|
Coach boat rescued a few and threw PFDs to the rest before its engine swamped. Rest of crew in the water 90 mins and had to swim for the shore. Found safety hut, lit fire and awaited rescue |
more details |
Oct 2002 |
Rhine, Dusseldorf Germany |
4 |
Open |
Rescued by DLRG – German equiv of RNLI |
more details |
Oct 2002 |
Brown Uni, during race, Connecticut, USA |
8+ |
Open |
9 crew rescued by the coastguard. |
more details |
Sept 2002 |
Aiguebelette, France |
4+ |
Aylings |
2 rowers and cox taken off by launch. |
more details |
Summer 2002 |
Strathclyde, UK |
8+ |
Sims |
9 crew had to swim ashore |
more details |
March 2002 |
Tideway (Women’s Head of the River Race) London, UK |
8+s |
|
Rescued |
more details |
2002 |
Tideway, London, UK |
8+ |
Janousek |
Rescued within minutes by safety launch. |
more details |
2002 |
Brussels canal, Belgium |
4 |
MPS fully buoyant |
|
more details |
2002 |
Holme Pierrepoint, Nottingham UK |
8+ |
|
Rescued by launches |
more details |
2002? |
Venice, Italy |
8+ |
Stampfli – Decked ends, wooden, open construction |
Rescued |
more details |
4 Feb-2002 |
Hammersmith, Tideway, UK |
8+ |
Decked ends, wooden, open construction |
Self-rescued |
more details |
Summer 2001 |
Castle Semple Regatta, UK |
4+ |
Janousek |
|
more details |
29-Dec-2000 |
Amposta, Spain |
two 8+ |
Sims -open const |
1 dead. 9 hosp treatment for hypothermia 10 exposure and shock. |
more details |
01-Jan-2000 |
Tyne, UK |
8+ |
|
2 near drowning, rescued by fire brigade |
more details |
1999 |
Tideway, London, UK |
Two 8+ |
|
|
more details |
July 1999 |
Ottawa River, Ontario Rowing Champs, Canada |
2 bow loader 4s |
Vespoli |
Rescued by officials. |
more details |
1999 |
Lake Champlain |
4x “elderly” non-buoyant |
|
Rescued by safety vessel |
more details |
1999 |
NZ – southern lake |
|
|
Rescued after 30 minutes in the water. Experts estimated they were only 10 mins away from “total disaster”. |
more details |
1991 |
Tideway, London, UK |
8+ |
Wooden |
Crew waded ashore |
more details |
1990s |
Tideway, London, UK |
2x8+ |
Janousek Aylings “open” |
Crew waded ashore |
more details |
1990s |
Lake, Netherlands |
4+ |
Open Construction |
4 dead - drowned -cold water fatal within 15 mins. |
more details |
March 1988 |
Elk Lake, Victoria, Canada |
8+ |
|
Rescued |
more details |
Jan 1988 |
Elk Lake, Victoria, Canada |
2x8+ |
|
2 dead - 1 drowned, 1 hypothermia |
more details |
Mar 1986 |
New Hampshire, USA |
3x8+, 1x4+ |
|
1 or 2 dead |
more details |
1983 |
Lake near Sofia, Bulgaria |
8+ |
Open construction, Empacher |
1 dead |
more details |
Mar 1979 |
Putney, UK |
15 x 8+ |
Decked ends, wooden, open construction |
Rescued or self-rescued |
more details |
25 Mar 1978 |
Tideway, London, UK |
|
|
Rescued by safety launches |
more details |
1970s |
East Germany |
|
|
4 dead - drowning |
more details |
1962-64 |
Swan river, Perth, WA |
4+ |
Open Construction |
1 dead - hypothermia and drowning |
more details |
1957 |
Manchester, UK |
4+ |
Decked ends, wooden, open construction |
1 drowned |
more details |
24 Mar 1951 |
Tideway, London, UK |
|
|
Race re-run 2 days later |
more details |
1907-2001 |
Japan |
Various |
|
68 deaths appear to be buoyancy-related |
more details |
|