the essential
Aveyron is as much known for its hiking trails as for its swimming spots. In summer in particular, several thousand people take advantage of the department’s beaches, although they must be supervised by swimming supervisors.
Every year, several thousand people take advantage of the department’s bodies of water. Swimming lifeguards have become an essential element in ensuring the safety of places. The “Profession sport et leisure Aveyron” association ensures, for nineteen communities (municipalities and communities of communes), the recruitment of swimming supervisors for twenty-five bathing places.
In total, around sixty supervisors are needed to allow the swimming site to open depending on demand, which is inevitably significant during the summer. But, the members of the association, the director Stéphane Latour and the development agent Xavier Cottel have been anticipating this request for several months in order to“identify needs”.
“We are doing a real painstaking jobunderlines Stéphane Latour. In Aveyron, we are in competition with other swimming places which are increasingly attractive. But we manage to build a bond of trust with those who choose to come see us. At one time, we had 95% of our workforce coming from Aveyron. Today, this is no longer the case. We have candidates from all over France.”
To recruit, the association must innovate and “provide rapid responses to those who contact us”.
Promotion of the safety and rescue diploma
On the side of municipalities, the demand is also strong because faced with the obligation to respect regulations, sometimes difficult to understand because they are subject to numerous changes, the association “Profession sport et Loisirs Aveyron” ensures “legal monitoring in this area and others. But we also function as a purchasing center when it comes to changing swimming signage equipment, for example”recalls Xavier Cottel.
At the same time, the association carries out in-depth work to ensure the promotion of the National Water Safety and Rescue Certificate. “ For almost three years, with the health crisis, it was difficult to pass diplomasexplains Stéphane Latour. Today, training has resumed but we are inevitably suffering the consequences of this forced stoppage. There are fewer holders of this diploma.” So, in high schools, among students, the members of Profession Sport et Loisirs praise this diploma which allows “to access a summer job” who also participates “to the attractiveness of the territory”.
Like every year, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) publishes its ranking of swimming sites in Occitanie and therefore in Aveyron. This ranking, established over four years, is “ representative of the water quality of the bathing site “, according to the ARS. It is therefore less subject to “ isolated pollution peaks ” and takes greater account of “ chronic pollution “.
In Aveyron, 58 sites have been identified and are therefore subject to these samples (at least sixteen spread over four years), or 306 in total. Only 51 sites are classified today, the other seven have “a swimming profile currently being developed or have been declared less than four years ago”according to the Regional Health Agency.
In detail, 36 sites are classified in the “excellent quality” category, 10 in “good quality”, four in “sufficient quality” and 1 in “insufficient quality”.
Several temporary bans in 2023
In 2023, only two sites were temporarily closed after a non-compliant result. These were the upstream beach of Pont Vieux, in Saint-Geniez-d’Olt, twice (in July and August) and the place of Saint-Rome-de-Tarn.
Localized storms and runoff into waterways are the main causes “alteration of water quality”. After further checks, “These beaches were reopened to swimming in less than five days, in complete safety.” Furthermore, the detection of a proliferation of cyanobacteria on two bodies of water led to a temporary ban on swimming at four sites on Lake Villefranche-de-Panat, from August 21 to 31, and on Lake Val de Lenne. , in Baraqueville, from August 8 to 31.
The proliferation of planktonic cyanobacteria “is unpredictable and can develop very quickly, sometimes in less than a day. Although not alarming, this phenomenon can nevertheless present a danger to human and animal health”.
Five samples on average
Precisely, throughout the swimming season, cyanobacteria are periodically tracked by analysis and monitoring, in particular by noting the presence of foam at the edge of the body of water, by supervisors.
Based on the calendar of the bathing season, from June 15 to September 15 (sometimes more restricted for fresh water), the control program begins with a sample taken between 10 and 20 days before it starts.
On average, five samples are taken for fresh water and between 10 and 20 samples for sea water.
The quality of bathing water is assessed using two types of indicators: based on field observations, but also microbiological parameters.
