The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Valiant efforts made to rescue kayaker
EXPERIENCED 35-YEAR-OLD KAYAKER WAS KILLED IN RIVER ROUGHTY ACCIDENT IN SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR
A VERDICT of accidental death has been returned by the Coroner’s Court in Killarney into the death of experienced kayaker, Brita Waters, following a kayaking accident on the River Roughty in Kilgarvan last November.
The 35-year-old from Maryborough Woods, Douglas, Cork, and Dublin became submerged under the water after she was taken by the current over a waterfall or ‘drop’ in the river.
Her boat had capsized in a pool of calm water or an ‘Eddy’, where the group had been attempting to emerge from the water to avoid the drop or waterfall. Ms Waters was among a group of five experienced kayakers on the day in question. All were past or present members of Phoenix Kayaking club in Cork.
An investigation by the Marine Casualty Investigations Board (MCIB) found that the group had carried out all the right procedures. The report also recommended that personal location beacons should be worn. Ms Waters was wearing a buoyancy aid on the day in question.
The group met in Ballymakeera before travelling onto
Kilgarvan to kayak the River Roughty, a popular spot for kayakers and a river that they had previously kayaked on. The inquest heard from members of the group that they had scouted for hazards as they came down the river and had discussed a large tree that they knew was in the water.
Ms Waters was the last kayaker to come down to an ‘Eddy’, where they intended to come out of the water to avoid a rapid or waterfall just below where the tree was located.
When she entered the pool of water her boat capsized after it appeared to hit a submerged rock.
Ms Waters came out of the boat and was taken by the current. A safety line was put on Martin Tarrant, another member of the group, who attempted to locate Ms Waters.
He told the inquest that when Ms Waters’ boat started to capsize, attempts were made to stabilise the boat, but she came out of the boat and went over ‘the drop’.
Micheál McSweeney then went into the water and eventually got hold of her buoyancy aid. But attempts to pull her out were unsuccessful as she was pinned down by a tree and the power of the water, the inquest heard.
It took several hours for Ms Waters’ body to be recovered from the water.
The post-mortem carried out by Dr Margot Bolster stated that the cause of death was acute cardiorespiratory failure due to drowning.