A Pennsylvania couple drowned in a rip current while on vacation in Florida with their six children, according to authorities.
Rip currents usually reach a speed of 1 to 2 feet per second, but some can clock in at 8 feet per second, which is faster than an Olympic swimmer,
A decent swimmer can maybe swim 3-4 fps. I seriously doubt these middle-aged parents could.
Something that’s weird when you’re out in the ocean wading in deep water and with waves is your distance to shore can be very deceptive. Without realizing you’ll be another 50 yards out from shore in a matter of minutes.
I thought the ocean was powerful and rough water was nothing. Then I went to Hawaii during rain season. Rip tides are no joke.
I’m good size 6ft 240lbs. I got hit with one wave and I had to reflect on life after that. I went from big man to flailing boy quick. I saw the lord!
I will never understand people’s strong desire to live or vacation near the ocean. You pay a massive premium just to live on “the coast”, with the ever present threat of hurricanes for what? Some sounds and breeze?
People will arrange their vacations so that they can visit the ocean, for what? Unless you’re a surfer or something, it’s boring, it’s just another body of water with an increased risk of death or injury by various means.
I’m not even one of those that’s afraid of the ocean or anything, I’ve been in it, I left in less than an hour because it’s boring AF. It’s much more fun to go to a water park or even just a public pool, hell your city might even have a public water park/pool like mine does.
That’s terrible. If you’re unlucky enough to get caught up in a rip, always swim parallel to the beach until you get yourself out of the current, and failing that, focus your energy on staying floating.
Knew about the swim parallel to the shore thing, but how do you recognise you’re caught up in a rip? Is it super noticeable?
From the shore you can actually see them. It’s an area with fewer waves than the surrounding surf; the water can appear either deeper in color or sandy/seaweedy. The photos online will show you better than I can describe. If you get caught by one while in the ocean, you’ll know. The current will be strongly pulling you away from the shore.
Ideally you notice it from the shore and avoid it as others have mentioned. If you’re swimming in one you’ll realize soon enough you’re getting taken out from the shore.
I got caught in one when I was a teenager off Mission Beach in San Diego. I’d already been out swimming in water deeper than I could stand in for a while and, getting tired, started heading to shore. After some time I realized I wasn’t making any progress at all. It took me a little while more to realize what was up: I was in a rip current. Thankfully I’d had an elementary school teacher in Phoenix, AZ of all places that taught us kids how to escape one and I remembered - swim parallel to the shore a good distance and then try swimming back in again and check your progress. Repeat as needed if you’re unable to make progress. I followed those instructions and eventually was able to get back to shore, utterly exhausted. I can’t help but think how lucky I was not to have missed that day of school.
This site has a few photos that illustrate what it looks like.
You can see that it’s fairly narrow, which is why swimming parallel to shore works.
Just swim sideways or float. It’s so easy to float in the ocean and doesn’t take much energy. Most people panic, though, and don’t remember to do simple things. When I was in lifeguard training, most of the stuff they teach you is how to deal with completely irrational actions people do when panicking.
Also, never underestimate the ocean (or any moving water). I’ve been swimming, waterskiing, surfing, scuba diving, whitewater kayaking, sailing for over 40 years, and I’ve had a TON of instances of “oh shit, I have zero control over what the water is doing to me right now.” Just completely powerless as the ocean tosses you around or the river pulls you down behind a boulder and holds you until you can find the bottom and kick out of the “hole.”
