Flatrock river a popular — but dangerous — swimming spot, says mayor

The Flatrock river where a teenager died Tuesday is dangerous, especially when the water's high, says the town's mayor.

Police confirmed that a 16-year-old boy drowned in a Big River swimming hole on Tuesday afternoon. There are several swimming spots along the river, Flatrock Mayor Darrin Thorne told CBC's St. John's Morning Show on Wednesday, and they're popular places in the summer.

It's a tricky area down there that you really need to know where you're swimming.- Darrin Thorne

"On hot days, this place is booming with lots of people. It's a very popular place for a lot of younger kids, in the teenage years," he said. "There are some safe spots down there, but there are some dangerous places as well, as we found out yesterday."

There have been other drownings and close calls over the years, the mayor said.

"It's a tricky area down there that you really need to know where you're swimming," he said. "It's very unfortunate what happened to that young man yesterday."

Death shocked the community

Thorne said news of the boy's death stunned the Avalon Peninsula community of about 1,500 people.

"I spoke to a couple of the older people in Flatrock and that area yesterday evening. They were shocked that this has happened again. These people grew up in this area, but they know the river. They know that when you have a big rainfall that you have to be very careful because there's so much of an undertow."

One area is called the "whirly hole," said Thorne, because the currents are strong enough to spin like a whirlpool.

He said there are still few details on what happened. The boy was in the swimming hole nearest the ocean.

"It's an area where, when the water's high it's a dangerous area, and it's been like that for 100 years," he said.

 "I know that don't make it any better for the family, and my deepest condolences to the family and all this young man's friends. … If anything could come out of this, it's that kids of his age and people that do swim there realize the danger in that area."

Town council has discussed putting up signs

At a meeting Tuesday night, according to Thorne, council discussed putting up signs warning people of the dangers. But signs won't keep people away, he said.

"You can put signage up there; that's not going to guarantee that someone's not going to get into the river when the water's high," he said.

"We've never advertised it as a swimming hole because … we didn't consider it as town property. … It's a river, and people just swim there. You can come down there any day that its 20 degrees or hotter, and you'll have a job to drive through on the main road in Flatrock."