RIP tides - stay safe

[SaintGermain]

As a former surf lifesaver I constantly find myself when I'm at a beach automatically in patrol mode, and I'm always troubled seeing the amount of people that enter the surf straight into a rip zone. This includes, and most worrying of all children. I know a lot of people are kind of aware of what to do if caught in a rip, but it has been brought to my attention recently that a lot of people aren't aware of what a rip actually looks like or where the safest place to swim at the beach is if there is no flagged area.

One person will drown every two to three days this summer... 90% of those fatalities will be rip-related. Here are a few things that will help you and your kids stay safe this summer. I have also put together a few images that show what to look for.

1. The easiest thing to remember is that often the safest/calmest most enticing looking area along a beach is usually a rip. A rip is usually the area devoid of wave activity and appears darker and deceptively calmer. It can sometimes appear milky or turbulent, but it is always pretty much void of wave activity. All that water coming in via waves has to go back out somehow, this is what a rip is. (see pics).

1. Always take 5-10 mins when you get to the beach to observe surf conditions and identify where these areas are.

1. If you are caught in a rip, DO NOT PANIC. Go into floating mode and raise one arm as a distress signal when possible. See which direction the rip is taking you, is it straight out or at an angle? once you have determined this, and if you have the energy, swim to the right or left of the direction of flow, never against. Some rips can move at 3 times the speed of an olympic swimmer, you won't win! If you cannot swim out to either side of the rip, just go with it. Most rips won't take you out very far, and will usually spit you out not long after they take you, so keep calm and save your energy for the swim back to shore.

1. If you have kids, show them these pictures, educate them and make them aware. You can't always be watching them, and it is only a matter of a few metres each way of the point of entry to the water that could mean them being safe, or instantly caught in a rip.

Obviously the safest place to swim is always between the flags on a patrolled beach, but this isn't always practical given the immensity of our coast line and number of beautiful beaches. Of course there are many other factors that can come into play when it comes to beach safety, but rips are the No.1 killer. They are not hard to identify, and 10 mins observation before entering the surf is much easier than body retrieval.

*The darker/calmer areas in the pics are rips. The one with purple dye shows rip movement.

Written by Kenny Jewell.

I can only upload half the photos so will upload the other half including the one with the dye, in the comments if allowed.

Continued -

Thank you, I honestly had no clue about this.

Thanks for this, one of those things I knew in theory but it's good to have the images to refer to.

Thank you for sharing, I’ve never been caught in one but seen the phenomenon at the beach

@Mumsnetshould highlight this

Thank you for this. I’ve just shared it on our family and our friends’ WhatsApp groups.

Thank you OP! I had no idea what this looked like though I have heard the term. I got caught in what I presume was this once holiday when younger (was also drunk...very stupid to have wandered into the water) - it was terrifying. I am a strong swimmer but I thought I was a goner.

So helpful thank you. Off to the beach next week and it’s a timely reminder

This scares me but the information you have given is very clear and very helpful. Thank you for starting this thread.

Thank you, this is very important information to share. I was caught in a rip tide once as a teenager but thankfully my grandfather had told me what to do and I was able to escape it before it took me very far.

Thanks for highlighting this. I’m a regular beachgoer and swimmer but I still forget and find myself thinking “ooh that bit looks a bit calmer”. I usually swim at lifeguarded beaches and don’t go far out, but a rip is a rip.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cglz1zp8ee4o

I’m going to add that you should also check the weather and sea conditions if you are planning to use a paddle board or inflatables. A friend recently got taken out quite far by an offshore breeze; she managed to get back in but said she was exhausted.

And wear a buoyancy aid! The same day I saw a dad paddle boarding with his two young kids and none of them had a buoyancy aid. People don’t realise that you are like a sail when you stand up on a paddle board - if the offshore wind takes you, you can suddenly find yourself way out and having to battle the wind to get back to the beach. If they’d fallen in they would have been in trouble.

Thank you. I didn't know any of this.

Thanks op. I sea swim and wasn't so aware of this.

thanks.
I live by a beach and the amount of people who get into difficulties us staggering. even with signs and lifeguards on duty.

3 more thinks:

1. if unsure of currents never go in more than knee hight. also supervise kids to not go in deeper
2. never swim out. walk in and at hip high swim parallel to the beach
3. learn to float on your back and teach children that skill. it's much much more important to know how to do that tgan knowing how to swim

and of course read the signs and listen to the lifeguard.

Thank you - I knew about rip tides but the pictures are very helpful

Thank you for posting this.

Can I also add a bit about rivers and quarries in this heat.

1. Don’t just jump in, you have no idea if there are any hidden dangers under the water and the biggest killer is cold shock.
2. Find a graduated place of entry and acclimatise gradually. Quarries in particular can be very cold and the body goes into panic mode which affects your breathing and ability to move.
3. float to survive, if you get into trouble don’t try and swim against it just turn on your back and float until you are able to control your breathing.
4. Make sure you know your exit point.
5. DON’T swim alone.
6. Wear a bright coloured hat or tow float.
7. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT MIX OPEN WATER SWIMMING AND ALCOHOL.

There was a fatality in the river Avon yesterday, alcohol was mentioned in the article.

Opened this yo see who tides was, and what they'd died from.

About to move to the coast so a very yimely reminder for us, thanks OP.

I didn’t know this. Had heard a lot about rip tides but thought it was just near estuaries for some reason - probably confusing it with something else.

Also with rivers they can look very still and calm on the surface but have a strong undercurrent.

If you do buy your kids buoyancy aids/life jackets...

Some have a whistle attached. THIS IS NOT A TOY. please don't let them play with it, the point is to alert people to those in trouble and if kids ate blowing them constantly it means someone in trouble may not be noticed.

Thank you. I do know about rip tides but the pictures you shared really make it clear and I didn’t realise just how to spot them

It would be great if any teachers on here could share this with their pupils before they break up for the summer holidays.

Thanks for sharing. I’m always reminding my teens and their friends about rips.

Teenagers always want to get in water when it’s hot too. Try and persuade them to go somewhere busy and safer
I swim outside and so many people have drowned in a local deep, cold quarry. About ten mins drive away there’s a glorious 5ft deep (all the way across) reservoir which allows swimming and is so so much safer
or join a local wild swimming group and head over there with them for the first time, they will know the water and safety info

Also we were at the beach in Bournemouth 2 years ago when two young people died in a rip. It was next to the pier so maybe the rip was less obvious? I don’t know. But it still upsets me that I left the beach that day with my teen dd and another mother didn’t.