Meindert Schulting is 20 years old when, on the hottest day ever recorded in the Netherlands, he takes a run-up of two or three steps and dives into the Uitgeestermeer. His head hits the bottom. His neck breaks. He lies face down in the water, unable to move.
Three men fifty metres away see it happen. His own friends don't.
Meindert survives. But he is paralysed from the chest down. Since then he has had three hip replacements, a bout of pneumonia that left him on a ventilator for four weeks, and he now needs home care just to get out of bed each morning.
He is 27 now.
This story, published today in the Gooi en Eemlander, moves me deeply – not only as a human being, but as a water safety expert with nearly thirty years in the swimming world. Because this wasn't bad luck. This was a predictable accident, in a country that structurally does far too little to raise awareness of the dangers of water.
The Netherlands is a nation of water. But water wisdom is missing.
The Netherlands has more than 400,000 kilometres of waterways. We live in them, surrounded by them. We flock to them for recreation. And yet a large part of our population lacks even the most basic knowledge of the dangers of open water.
Statistics Netherlands (CBS) shows that over the past five years an average of 93 people per year drowned in open water or in and around the home. Ninety-three. Every year. In one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
But drowning isn't the only risk. Meindert's story reveals a danger that remains underexposed: the shallow-water diving accident. In the very lake where Meindert was paralysed, three more serious swimming accidents occurred in the four years that followed. One of the victims eventually chose euthanasia.
The water was shallow. You couldn't see the bottom. There were no warning signs for visitors arriving from the water – only for swimmers coming from the shore.
A judge later ruled that the site operator was 80 percent liable. Meindert bears 20 percent of the fault himself.
But apportioning blame solves nothing. Meindert is still in a wheelchair.
What goes wrong – and why does it keep happening?
As chairman of the NSWZ and a water safety expert, I see a pattern that repeats itself time and again:
1. People don't know the dangers of open water. A swimming pool has a bottom you can see. Open water does not. Mud, weeds, rocks, broken glass, sudden shallows – all invisible. Anyone who doesn't realise this behaves in open water the way they would in a pool. With fatal consequences.
2. Warning signs go unread or get removed. Meindert points out himself that nine out of ten warning signs at recreation areas can't be read. They're plastered with stickers or defaced with graffiti. That's no reason not to put them up – it's an argument for behaviour change and education.
3. Water safety education starts too late – or is missing entirely. The Netherlands teaches children to swim. Good. But swimming and safe behaviour around water are two different things. A swimming certificate teaches a child how to keep itself afloat. It doesn't teach how to judge whether a dive is safe. It doesn't teach what a current does. It doesn't teach how to rescue someone without putting yourself in danger.
4. Confidence in the water outstrips knowledge. Meindert wasn't a poor swimmer. He dared to jump. He overestimated the depth. That isn't stupidity – it's the absence of the right information at the right moment.
Meindert's mission is our mission too
Meindert says it himself: "If I can prevent just one spinal cord injury, then my mission has already succeeded. Because you wouldn't wish this on your worst enemy."
That line cuts right through me. Because it captures exactly why the NSWZ exists. Why De WaterExpert exists. And why we are acting now.
We refuse to accept resignation. We do not accept that drownings or serious swimming accidents are simply part of life in a country built on water. We believe – based on knowledge, experience and research – that halving the number of water-related accidents in the Netherlands is achievable, provided we invest collectively in knowledge and behaviour.
What the NSWZ is doing now: WaterZeker
That's why the Nederlandse Stichting Water- & Zwemveiligheid is launching the WaterZeker course – a practical, accessible online training for parents and children, developed specifically to deliver the knowledge that regular swimming lessons leave out.
WaterZeker teaches:
How to safely assess open water before you go in
The risks of diving, currents, temperature differences and invisible obstacles.
How, as a parent, to talk about water dangers without instilling fear.
What to do when someone is in trouble – and what not to do.
The course was developed on the basis of nearly thirty years of hands-on experience in swimming education, combined with the latest scientific insights into behaviour around water.
WaterZeker is not meant to make people afraid of water. Water is healthy, welcoming and belongs to us all. But those who know what they're doing are also the ones who survive.
Your child can swim. But does your child know how to dive safely?
Ask yourself honestly: has your child ever learned how to judge whether a dive is safe? Has your child learned the difference between a pool bottom and a lake bottom? Do you, as a parent, know what to do if you see someone floating who has stopped moving?
If the answer is no, then this is the moment.
✅ Take part now
➡️ Sign up for WaterZeker at nswz.nl/waterzeker
The course is available for parents of primary-school-aged children. Schools, swimming pools and local authorities can get in touch about group participation and prevention programmes.
Together we can prevent the next accident. Not after the fact. Now.
Shiva de Winter is founder of Zwemschool De Winter Sport (Huizen & Doorn), water safety expert at De WaterExpert and chairman of the Nederlandse Stichting Water- & Zwemveiligheid (NSWZ). He has nearly thirty years of experience in Dutch swimming education.
Notes & References
Superscript numbers in the text refer to the entries in the list below. All online sources consulted on 15 May 2026.
[1] Annemarie de Jong, "Meindert (27) dook in ondiep water en liep dwarslaesie op: 'Ik lag met mijn gezicht naar beneden en kon niet meer bewegen'", de Volkskrant, 15 May 2026. Primary source for all facts and quotes concerning Meindert Schulting. URL: volkskrant.nl.
[2] Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS), "CBS: 132 accidentele verdrinkingen in 2025", press release 13 May 2026. Also published via KNRM and Nationale Raad Zwemveiligheid. URL: cbs.nl / knrm.nl / nrz-nl.nl.
[3] CBS, "146 mensen verdronken in 2024 — hoogste aantal in bijna dertig jaar", press release 25 July 2025. URL: cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2025/30/146-mensen-verdronken-in-2024.
[4] CBS, custom table "Verdrinkingen 2024", published 25 July 2025. Ten-year average 2015–2024: 91 residents per year. Three-quarters in open water. URL: cbs.nl/nl-nl/maatwerk/2025/30/verdrinkingen-2024.
[5] J.J.L.M. Bierens & J. Hoogenboezem, "Fatal Drowning Statistics from the Netherlands — an example of an aggregated demographic profile", BMC Public Health (2019). Actual total drowning deaths: 250–300/year (including suicide 42% and transport accidents 16%). Factsheet: Reddingsbrigade Nederland, "Verdrinkingen in Nederland: het beeld bijgesteld" (2019). URL: reddingsbrigade.nl.
[6] Arjan de Vries, managing director NRZ, quoted in: Nationale Raad Zwemveiligheid, press release 13 May 2026. URL: nrz-nl.nl/nieuws/2026/05/cbs-132-verdrinkingen-in-2025.
[7] Mulier Instituut, "Zwemvaardigheid 2024 — inzicht in het zwemdiplomabezit van kinderen", factsheet November 2025. Research commissioned by the Ministry of VWS, in collaboration with CBS and Boekmanstichting (Vrijetijdsomnibus 2024). URL: mulierinstituut.nl/nieuws/steeds-meer-kinderen-in-nederland-halen-alle-drie-de-zwemdiplomas.
[8] Mulier Instituut (2025), op.cit. Swimming certificate ownership by background: 40% of children with a migration background without a certificate (vs. 9%); lowest income group 33% without a certificate (vs. 5% highest). See also: NRZ, news item 10 November 2025. URL: nrz-nl.nl.
[9] Nederlands Instituut Veiligheid Zwemlocaties (NIVZ), ongoing study "Ervaringen met bijna-verdrinking". Interviews by students of Leiden University. Register via verdrinking.nl. See NRZ, news item 4 December 2025. URL: nrz-nl.nl/nieuws/2025/12/voorkom-verdrinkingen-in-de-toekomst.
[10] Quotes from Meindert Schulting and legal facts (80%/20% liability): Annemarie de Jong, de Volkskrant, 15 May 2026 (see note 1). Content of the court case paraphrased.
[11] Shiva de Winter, "Hoe onafhankelijk is het Mulier Instituut als het gaat om zwemveiligheid?", LinkedIn Pulse, April 2022. URL: linkedin.com/pulse/hoe-onafhankelijk-het-mulier-instituut-als-gaat-om-shiva-de-winter.
[12] Nationaal Plan Zwemveiligheid, Ministry of VWS / Nationale Raad Zwemveiligheid, 2021–2025. URL: nrz-nl.nl/nationaal-plan-zwemveiligheid.
[13] World Health Organization (WHO), "Drowning — Key Facts", 19 April 2024. Roughly 236,000 drowning deaths worldwide per year (accidental). URL: who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drowning.
[14] Mulier Instituut, "Nederlanders over zwemveiligheid" (2018); Floor, C. (2020), "Zwemmen en zwemveiligheid: trends in zwemgedrag 2008–2019", Factsheet 2020/12, Utrecht: Mulier Instituut. URL: mulierinstituut.nl.
[15] NSWZ / WaterZeker, course programme WaterZeker Thuiscursus, 2025–2026. Developed on the basis of nearly thirty years of practical experience at Zwemschool De Winter Sport (est. 2007) and NSWZ expertise. URL: nswz.nl/waterzeker.
Disclaimer: This article is written as analysis and opinion based on publicly available sources. All factual claims are backed by references. Quotes from Meindert Schulting are drawn from the cited Volkskrant report and are not reproduced verbatim. The author is chairman of the NSWZ and has a commercial interest in WaterZeker; this relationship is made transparent within the text.