Huge waves hit hundreds of swimmers and locals say the bad weather meant the event should never have been allowed to go ahead.
The scene in Budleigh Salterton where two people disappeared after a Christmas Day swim (Image: William Dax / SWNS)
Locals have expressed anger at the organisers of a Christmas Day swim in Devon which has left two people missing feared dead. A search has been called off for the two swimmers.
Emergency services were called at 10.25am yesterday to the beach at Budleigh Salterton, a town on the south coast of Devon near Exeter. A number of swimmers were rescued and checked over by paramedics but the Coastguard and RNLI have called off their search with little hope of the missing swimmers being found alive.
The two men, aged in their 40s and 60s respectively, could not be found during an extensive search.
Locals have expressed their anger at the fact that the swim went ahead at all. One local resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Mail: “The sea isn’t Center Parcs. It’s more powerful than any of us and as generations of sailors in this town will attest, it’s a cruel mistress.”
Some believe that local officials should have shut the event down as conditions were clearly unsafe for swimming. But one resident, writing on social media, said that as so many people know swimmers traditionally gather there on Christmas Day it’s not something you can just cancel.
They said: “The swim.. is open to all-comers, any age, any ability, drunk or sober, undiagnosed health conditions or not. We can’t tell – people just turn up and run into the water.
“They don’t give their names and certainly don’t sign a waiver. It’s never been ‘organised’ and yet, people ‘think’ it’s organised: there are no controls; there are no authorities in attendance to take over should something bad happen; and, of course, there is no a** to kick if something goes wrong.
“There are no formal first aiders, there’s no lifeguard or lifeboat cover. If someone gets cold water shock, or cramps, or just falls and hits their head, there’s nothing in place.”
The beginning of the Christmas day swim in Budleigh Salterton which ened up with two people missing (Image: Sonia Mullineux / SWNS)
Another local posted: “Why was this even allowed?” And one other said: “[It] should never have gone ahead. No respect for the emergency services or for their own safety.”
“The sea at Budleigh today was treacherous with huge waves and dangerous currents. Nobody should have been swimming there,” said another.
HM Coastguard said this morning that the two men remain missing. A statement added: “After extensive shoreline and offshore searches, the Coastguard part of the search was stood down at 5pm [on Christmas Day].”
Meanwhile, Devon and Cornwall Police have warned people to stay away from the water on Boxing Day.
Detective Superintendent Hayley Costar added in her statement last night: “There have been weather warnings in place this week and a number of official and unofficial swims have already been cancelled. While there are no official warnings in place for tomorrow, we urge anyone with plans to go swimming in the sea on Boxing Day not to.”
Hundreds of people were seen visiting Exmouth and Budleigh beaches for unofficial Christmas Day swims yesterday.
A weather warning was in place in Devon for wind and stated that it was likely some coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities would be affected by spray and/or large waves.
