"Rip Tide" kills three swimmers in Cornwall

Unfortunately, one of these people died as a result of trying to rescue other people in difficulties.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-29782487

Good video here about riptides if you do any sea swimming.
(Oh, and it's not a tide it's a current)

 

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Always remember to swim away from shore with the riptide until you can swim out of it by swimming to either side of it.

just don't panic and try to fight the current, that's what kills swimmers for they can never outswim the current going against it.

 

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I've been caught in a few of these. They are remarkably fast; you're really moving when you're in them. Almost like being in a rapids in a river.

 

Faster than most people can swim.
And they can spring up unpredictably.
If you swim in the sea, you need to be familiar with them.
When you see flags at a beach, they have a meaning.
I bet that a lot of regular swimmers don't know 100% what the flags mean.
These are the common flags.
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifeguard

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Red generally means danger, and green means safe.
Like traffic lights.
If anyone knows of exceptions, please post.

 

regarding the "dont panic" motto that is being pushed around by the government as a guidelines for its citizens to pursue during times of hazard...it is wrong. Panicking, saves lives. 9/11 for example, those who did not panicked and formed single line on top of the 100th floor...died.

 

Oh, awesome color coding. And people wonder why there aren't so many red-green colorblind people.

 

Only 8% of men are colour blind.

 

And how many of that eight percent swim?

 

The rest drowned!

 

When in danger, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.

 

I don't know.
8% maybe?

 

I thought the ways to escape a rip tide was common knowledge? I was taught that... goodness, I couldn't have been more than 8 or 9 years old at the time... best way to survive it, lay on your back and slowly swim parallel to the shore - when yous top being pulled away from the shore, you are out of it and can start swimming back. So long as you aren't a muscle-bound full-cord freak, you SHOULD be buoyant enough that it will take you little to no energy to remain afloat. If there is a life guard on duty or other people around, calling for help might work, but you have to use sharp, loud sentences to be heard over the tide crashing on the shore.

 

Suggestion for sentences:
"Help! Help!"

 

Fastest one I was in was due to a very shallow tidal plain that was exposed at low tide. The tide would start coming in, waves would start washing onto the plain - and for a while it was great fun, because you had a few acres of shallow water that was quite warm. Then the water would build up high enough, you'd get a break in the sandbar enclosing the plain, and all that water would leave very abruptly. It really was like being on rapids in a river. Fortunately it was also easy to see the extent of it and swim back in once it petered out.

 

Actually, they have found that people often ignore "help"... I don't really know why people do, but it seems to hold some merit. Something a bit more unusual / louder (ending on a closed syllable makes your voice peter out) such as "Ahoy" or... well... nothing is springing to mind right now... damn I'm tired (2 hours of sleep + 12 hour work day = brain fart)

 

I can't see "Ahoy" working on it's own.
You could try alternating "ahoy" with "help".

 

Drowning non-swimmers, as opposed to swimmers in distress, will often die very quietly.
A lifeguard will be trained to look for signs of drowning, but to the average bystander they may look fine.

http://thatscurious.tumblr.com/post/2628816400/instinctive-drowning-response-why-you-cant-shout-or

 

The usual recommendation in my region is to yell "Fire!" We don't have rip tides around here, though.