Students and staff who were caught off guard by Friday’s wind storm while paddling in Lake Simcoe did everything right, according to the director of the camp the kids were visiting.
High school students from the Windsor area were at Youth Leadership Camps Canada (YLCC) on Moon Point Drive, just outside of Orillia, when the wind picked up, causing dangerous conditions on Lake Simcoe. That led to a rescue operation involving police boats and an OPP helicopter.
There were 18 students taking part in canoeing activities. Ten were rescued from the bay at Eight Mile Point — not 20, as police first reported Friday — said YLCC owner and director Stu Saunders.
The three students who were rescued by helicopter were in the water for eight minutes, he said, adding they were flown to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie and were back at camp within two hours. They suffered mild hypothermia.
The other seven were picked up by police boats and checked by paramedics on the shore, though none required hospitalization.
“The kids are all in school today, as far as I know, and they’re doing well,” Saunders said Monday. “They were a bit shaken up.”
The students, along with one of their teachers and two YLCC instructors, were paddling in canoes when the wind storm hit. Four canoes tipped, sending the teens into the frigid lake, but they were never in a situation where they couldn’t touch the bottom of the lake, Saunders said.
All of the students were wearing life jackets and had passed swim tests — a requirement if they are to get in a canoe.
Those at the camp were not expecting the storm, Saunders said.
“At the time, there wasn’t a high-wind warning,” he said. “We would never put kids out in high wind.”
Someone at the camp called 911 immediately after the canoes tipped.
Saunders said the students were “nervous, scared.”
“The scariest part about it was that it was cold.”
As a result, the camp is implementing a “cold-water protocol.” Visitors to the camp will not be allowed on the lake unless the water is at an “acceptable” temperature, Saunders said.
He praised the actions of everyone involved, from the staff and students to the first responders. Some of the students were seen helping their peers into the boat, he added.
“It was amazing how they all came together as a group.”
It was the sort of excitement Saunders isn’t used to seeing at YLCC.
“In 26 years and 30,000 kids, we’ve never had a major incident and we’re really proud of that,” he said.
