KNOW THE DANGER
Know How To Swim!
Swimming in a pool is NOT the same as swimming at a surf beach with crashing waves, winds and currents that can change suddenly.
The conditions of the currents and waves can change quickly unlike in a pool where there is consistency. Swimming in currents and waves will also cause fatigue more quickly than swimming in a pool. Smooth water located between breaking waves could signal the presence of a rip current.
Take your cell phone to the beach. In case of an emergency, where the lifeguard is not present, call 911.
Question & Answer
What is a rip current?
Rip currents are channeled currents of water flowing away from shore at surf beaches. They typically extend from near the shoreline, through the surf zone and past the line of breaking waves.
(The surf zone is the area between the high tide level on the beach to the seaward side of breaking waves.)
How do rip currents form?
Rip currents form when waves break near the shoreline, piling up water between the breaking waves and the beach. One of the ways this water returns to sea is to form a rip current, a narrow stream of water moving swiftly away from shore, often perpendicular to the shoreline.
How big are rip currents?
Rip currents can be as narrow as 10 or 20 feet in width though they may be up to ten times wider. The length of the rip current also varies. Rip currents begin to slow down as they move offshore, beyond the breaking waves, but sometimes extend for hundreds of feet beyond the surf zone.
What can people do if caught in a rip current?
If caught in a rip current:
• Try to remain calm to conserve energy.
• Don’t fi ght the current.
• Think of it like a treadmill you can’t turn off. You want to step to the side of it.
• Swim across the current in a direction following the shoreline.
• When out of the current, swim and angle away from the current and towards shore.
• If you can’t escape this, try to fl oat, or calmly tread water. Rip current strength eventually subsides offshore. When it does, swim toward
shore.
• If at any time you feel you will be unable to reach shore, draw attention to yourself: face the shore, wave your arms, and yell for help.
Are rip currents and undertows different?
Rip currents are not “undertow” or “riptides.” These are obsolete terms. In some areas, people have used the term undertow to describe the combination of being knocked down, pulled out, and submerged due to a lack of swimming ability and/or lack of knowing what to do to escape. This is where the myth formed that a rip current (or “undertow”) pulls you under water. A rip current pulls you out, not under.