Safety Reminders on Lake Burley Griffin
A message from Rowing ACT President Kent Peters;
As we enter what is one of the busiest periods in our annual regatta season it is important to advise that over the last two months there have been a number of worrying incidents, near-misses and accidents. These have led to hospitalisation, injuries, and complaints from other rowers and the general public that decrease the enjoyment of our sport for everyone.
We all must do better.
The most important factor is that safety on the lake is not someone else’s responsibility – it is everyone’s responsibility. This includes both rowers and coaches, with everyone ensuring that they are doing their best to keep the lake incident free. Important to being able to achieve this we need to ensure we are all doing the following:
- Ensuring that all rowers know the lake traffic flows. A number of recent accidents have occurred due to rowers heading north in lanes 1 or 2, counter to the traffic flow. During normal traffic flows lane 1 is solely for southbound traffic, which means that anyone heading north in lane 1 is putting themselves and others at great risk. Likewise, rowers leaving Yarralumla Bay should give way to rowers heading east or west, while all rowers should be aware of what arches they can and can’t travel through at Commonwealth and Kings Avenue Bridges. Failure to follow the lake traffic flows is akin to driving on the wrong side of the road with a similar level of danger for everyone. The Yarralumla map shows accidents between Yarralumla Bay and the Yarramundi Reach course over the last few months – these have all led to either injuries or damaged boats.
Incident Map - Ensuring all coaches are aware of the wash their tinnies are creating. Anything east of the National Museum (particularly Central Basin) is prone to wash lingering as it bounces off the hard edges of the lake. This can lead to dangerous conditions for other rowers, particularly those in single sculls. Information on tinnie etiquette can be found at https://www.rowingact.org.au/visitors/visiting-clubs-crew-and-coaches/ – all coaches should be familiar with these and ensure that they are continually minimising their wash while on the water.
- Ensuring that noise is kept to a minimum near residential areas, particularly near Kingston. To avoid noise complaints, coaches should avoid using megaphones around Kingston. If they are required, then please ensure that megaphones are being pointed away from residential buildings .
East Basin Map
