Learn How to Avoid Reverse Flow With This Handy Illustrated Guide
If you are planning on heading to the beach, read this handy guide before diving to know how to escape the deadly reverse current. It might just save your life.
Rip currents are strong jets of water that flow from the shore, even though the waves are still breaking against the shore. If you hit one of them, you can be pulled away from the shore at a speed of up to ten feet per second, so you cannot swim against it. This illustrated guide by Ted Slampjak of The Art of Manliness shows you what you should do instead. First of all, don’t panic or tire yourself. Keep afloat by beating eggs, call a lifeguard if there is one nearby, then simulate parallel to the beach until you emerge from the ripping current. Most breakwater currents are 20 to 100 feet wide, so keep going until you feel the waves pushing back towards the shore. If you start to get tired while swimming, stop and swim on your back until you regain some energy. Swimmers are usually warned of possible currents in the area – in which case, head to the pool – but you won’t always get a warning, so it’s good to know how to avoid one just in case.
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