Nothing can ruin a beach day quite like getting caught (or injured, or worse) in a rip current. Every guy should know how to spot and escape a rip current, whether you’re swimming at a protected beach manned by a Baywatch team or exploring an uncharted cove.
What is a rip current?
Rip currents are strong, narrow channels of water that flow rapidly away from the shore at ocean beaches. They can be dangerous for swimmers because they can pull even strong swimmers out to sea. Here is more detailed information on rip currents.
- Formation: Rip currents occur when water piles up near the shore from breaking waves. This water then seeks the quickest way back out to sea, forming a narrow channel that cuts through the breaking waves and flows swiftly offshore.
- Strength and speed: Rip currents can be surprisingly strong, moving at speeds of up to 8 feet per second. Their width can vary, but they’re typically narrow, ranging from a few feet to 50 yards wide.
- Location: Rip currents are prevalent along surf beaches, including those on the East Coast, Gulf, and West Coast of the U.S., as well as the Great Lakes. They can form near breaks in sandbars, jetties, piers, or anywhere along the shore where there’s a channel for water to flow back out to sea.
- Misconceptions: Rip currents are sometimes mistakenly called rip tides. Rip tides is a misnomer entirely. It’s important to use the correct term “rip current” to avoid confusion.
These powerful, unpredictable, channeled currents can be deadly. The U.S. Lifesaving Association estimates that the U.S. sees more than 100 deaths because of rip currents every year; these currents account for over 80% of rescues performed by beach lifeguards.
How to get out of a rip current
To learn how to get out of a rip current, we spoke to Jimmy Minardi, founder of East End Ocean Rescue. Minardi established EEOR nearly 20 years ago to decrease rescue response times and help save lives along the beautiful New York beaches of the East End, which overflow with vacationers each year. Quick tip: Minardi told us that rip currents may be rougher on the East Coast than on the West Coast because of factors like the sand, quick-moving summer storms, and tide changes.
Step 1: Spot a rip current
“You can see rip currents from the beach,” Minardi said. “They look like discolored water going back out to sea. You can’t miss it. The water on either side will look different, and the channel of water will have a chop to it.” Minardi told The Manual that this discoloration is the result of sand and seaweed being pulled out to sea.
Step 2: Don’t panic
If you feel yourself being pulled out to sea — you’ll know it’s a rip current since many move at speeds of up to 8 feet per second (faster than an Olympic swimmer) — “First and foremost, don’t panic,” Minardi explained. “Panicking is what causes all the problems. When you start panicking, you’re using twice the amount of energy swimming against the rip. You might as well be swimming against Niagara Falls. When you panic, you’re making it twice as hard for survival.”
Step 3: Forget the myths
“It’s not going to suck you down,” Minardi said. “Undertow is a myth. Rip currents pulling you underneath the water is a myth. Panicking, however, will pull you underneath the water.”
Step 4: Swim in the right direction
Once you get past the panic, Minardi said, “Swimming parallel with the beach will get you out every time.” He added that the best way to determine which way to swim is by picking your coastline, not your water line, and returning to the beach at an angle. “You may be going backward and that will be uncomfortable, but as long as you’re swimming parallel with the sand, to the right or left, you’ll be fine.”
Step 5: Tread patiently
For experienced swimmers or those who cannot swim parallel with the coastline (although Minardi said this should theoretically work every time), let the rip take you out. Wait … what? That’s right — let the current take you out from the beach.
“If you’re comfortable with treading water, do nothing,” Minardi told us. “The rip will bring you out and the natural ebb and flow of the ocean will bring you back to the beach. However, I suggest you be really experienced and comfortable with the ocean.”
“[Rip currents] let go and eventually diminish and you can swim back in,” he added.
Step 6: Call a lifeguard
If you happen to get caught in a rip current on a protected beach, Minardi said to resort to Step 2 and let the lifeguard do their lifeguarding.
