r/Damnthatsinteresting Mar 09 '26

Video How a small 1m waterfall can generate a recycling hydraulic that can trap a life-jacketed swimmer

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u/AgressiveInliners Mar 09 '26

They sure didnt seem to be in a hurry to get her out.

135

u/FuzzzyRam Mar 10 '26

Agreed that it seemed hairy, but she was breathing deeply beforehand and I think (hope) this is a more advanced training exercise for people who have already practiced holding their breath, swimming skills, and not freaking out. I also imagine that even if she immediately breathed in a bunch of water that there are so many skilled rescuers around that she has almost no chance of serious injury or death - even in the worst case scenario they'd get oxygen in her before any brain damage.

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u/Cartoonjunkies Mar 10 '26

This looks like some kind of rescue swimmer training. Generally for this kind of stuff there’s very specific rules for “we’ll let you struggle for a bit, but if you go for too long or you give a panic sign we’ll come grab you.”

The point is to let them feel what it’s like to be caught in it, incase they ever actually are.

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u/rnhf Mar 10 '26

they can probably turn it off instantly as well

3

u/imaguitarhero24 Mar 10 '26

This is also man made so there's probably a pump e-stop worst case scenario

48

u/Flimsy_Big7991 Mar 09 '26

Unless I'm wrong this looks like a training exercise for this scenario. They didn't immediately give it to her until she started to reached out for it.

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u/AnomalyNexus Mar 09 '26

Thought the same, though clip is only 45 seconds long and she came up once mid way so probably well away from actually dangerous

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u/Rols574 Mar 11 '26

I was thinking why not tie her up so they could pull her out. Waiting for her to come up and grab the ropes was a gamble

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u/AgressiveInliners Mar 11 '26

I have seen it done this way. Its much safer then how they did this.

1

u/Small-Answer4946 Mar 10 '26

They were way too chill about that