More on the drowning of Giankarlo Squicimari in Palm Beach, this time from Michael Mayo in the Sun-Sentinel. Mayo reports that there were no lifeguards on the the beach near the Four Seasons Hotel when the riptide took Squicimari and damn near killed a few other people.
Look you don't want to get caught in a riptide. I've been in that position. I'm a fairly strong swimmer, but, like Squicimari, I had a child in my arms. It wasn't a rescue situation; we were pushed out together. It's about as bad a feeling as there is in the world, because you know you're not going to let go of the kid and, at the same time, you know both of you are going to drown. We wouldn't be here today if lifeguards didn't get to us (they first took the child then came back for me) before we were swept under for good.
People drown in these damn riptides every day in Florida, half of them tourists from other places drawn here by the marketing machine. (Read this from last year). What I want to know is why there were no lifeguards there at the time. It's not clear if this was a public beach or a spot of private Four Seasons beach. So you don't know who is responsible, the city or the hotel or the county or what. It just seems like a crime not to have trained lifeguards on the beach just like you would any public swimming pool.
