After seeing children and adults swimming there for several days, she took her three children there on May 26.
Her 4-year-old son, Levi, fell over on some rocks and the current swept him away.
He went under the water, before finally popping back up and a man grabbed him about 20 feet downstream. Wilson doesn’t know who helped, but wants to thank them.
“It was a very scary ordeal,” said Wilson, adding she’s telling all her friends and family not to swim there.
The recent improvements adding rapids to the creek are intended for kayaks and similar recreational watercraft, said Tim Smith, CEO of National Trail Parks and Recreation District.
But in recent weeks swimmers have crowded the area.
On the day Wilson went, she saw about 25 to 30 children and about 30 adults.
The parks district is taking several steps to discourage recreational swimming there.
Signs near the creek say swimming is not recommended. The district is researching possible ways to restrict recreational swimming that would be enforceable, Smith said, but won’t prohibit the intended boating uses.
The district also is working with the Springfield Police Division to step up enforcement of park violations, such as open containers of alcohol.
Additionally, the area will be shut down soon for about 30 days to finish construction associated with the water features, including adding landscaping and parking areas.
The creek changes aren’t designed for swimming, Smith said. The powerful currents swirl, large rocks hide under the water, the depths change daily, no lifeguards oversee the area, and kayaks could come through and not see swimmers.
Smith strongly encouraged people to always stick to pools and areas with lifeguards, and avoid any open water area, such as creeks and ponds. A Hilliard High School student recently drowned swimming in a quarry near there.
“In general, people should swim where it’s designed for it and guarded,” Smith said.
Kevin Loftis and his brother John have headed up the efforts to add the whitewater features. The terraced banks in Snyder Park are for stabilization, as well a viewing place to watch boaters, fish or to sit and eat lunch, he said.
Two other locations further upstream on the creek also have smaller-scale improvements planned, but Loftis said those likely won’t be worked on until next year.
The abundance of swimmers also makes it difficult for kayakers, Smith said.
“What got lost was the intent of what the site was supposed to be for our community ... We’re trying to shift it back toward its intended use,” he said.
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