Swimming in the sea this summer? Here’s how to spot and avoid a potentially deadly rip tide
Rip currents can seize you and carry you out into deep waters even if the water's only up to your waist... here's how to stay safe
MANY of us will take a dip in the sea this summer, but few people realise how easy it can be to drown if potentially DEADLY rip currents drag you out into deep waters.
Even if the water is only up to your waist, and definitely if it’s up to your chest, a rip tide can seize you and carry you out to sea.
Read on for our guide of how to spot rip tides both in Britain and abroad, and keep yourself and your kids safe when swimming this summer.
Surviving a rip current has very little to do with strength – they can even kill strong, professional swimmers.
Trying to resist the current doesn’t work and many people panic when they realise this, making the whole situation A LOT worse.
Rip tides are especially dangerous when they come into shallow waters – because barriers such a piles of sands and shoals of fish block the mass from returning to the open sea.
They tend to be narrow – measuring around two to three metres and moving at a speed of four to five kilometres an hour.
However, rip tides can grow to the dangerous size of 50 by 400 metres, and achieve speeds of 15km an hour.
How can you spot a rip current?
Look out for:
- A channel of fast-flowing water moving at an angle towards the shore.
- The water around the beach being a different colour (a white area, surrounded by green or light blue water).
- An area made up of foam, marine plants and bubbles flowing towards the sea.
- A 5-10 metre gap in an area of flowing waves.
- Sadly however, 80 per cent of rip tides CAN’T be identified by sight.
How can you keep yourself safe?
- Don’t stray from the others – keep near to groups of people, even if swimming alone.
- Pay attention to red flags and any warning signs along the beach.
What should you do if you get caught up in a rip current?
- Don’t panic – you need to be thinking rationally.
- Don’t struggle – you need to save your strength.
- Don’t swim towards the shore – swim parallel to it. If the rip current is narrow, you’ll be able to escape it quickly using this method.
- If it’s wider than 20 metres, STAY STILL – the reverse flow should stop within five minutes.
- Then swim parallel to the shore for 50-100 metres, before swimming towards the beach.
- It’s important to still swim parallel out of the danger zone because otherwise if the flow starts again in the same place, you will be caught up in it.
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Keep calm, and remember:
- The rip current will not drag you down to the sea bed, it’s not a whirlpool.
- The width of the current is always limited, and you’ll realise when you’ve swam safely out of the danger zone.