You can read the story here. The only reason I post this is that these people were fucking stupid. You NEVER swim against a rip tide no matter how strong of a swimmer you think you are.
I got caught in one of these once and the only way to be sure you’ll survive is to swim parallel to shore until the rip tide has dissipated and THEN try to swim for shore.
What I did was swam for about a quarter of a mile until I found a cove where I knew there would be no rip tide and then swam for the cove. I was a very weak swimmer and spent most of the time floating on my back and gently paddling.
The trick is that you DO NOT panic. As long as you can stay afloat, you will live.
If my kid goes swimming with two of his nannies (how many does he have?) and I’m the one who has to save his little ass from drowning, somebody needs to update their resume.
I happen to know this because a lifeguard told me so once on a beach where it was a risk. But this isn’t common knowledge. People aren’t “fucking stupid” because they’re unaware of it anymore than they’re if they don’t know what to do in a snowstorm or when attacked by a mountain lion.
You should know it if you’re going to swim in the ocean though, just as you should know how to avoid mountain lions if you’re going to hike in the woods. I agree that not knowing isn’t fucking stupid though … just plain old garden-variety stupid.
