Rip current trainer

What a rip current is

A rip current is a narrow, fast channel of water flowing away from the beach. Rip currents account for about 80% of beach rescues (opens in a new tab), and NOAA estimates they kill about 100 people in the U.S. each year (opens in a new tab). They can move at up to 8 feet per second, faster than an Olympic swimmer.

The most important fact to know: a rip current pulls you away from shore, not under the water (opens in a new tab). People get into trouble when they panic and swim straight back toward the beach against the current until they are exhausted.

How to spot one

The National Weather Service lists three clues (NWS Tallahassee (opens in a new tab)):

• A gap in the waves. Rip currents are often found where waves are not breaking, between areas where they are.
• Darker water. The water in a rip current is often darker.
• Things floating out. A line of foam, seaweed or debris moving away from the beach.

Rip currents commonly form at breaks in sandbars and near inlets, jetties and piers, and they often form on calm, sunny days (opens in a new tab). They can be hard to see, so the clues are a bonus, not a guarantee. Swimming near a lifeguard is the best protection.

If you are caught

These are the National Weather Service steps (opens in a new tab), in order:

1. Relax. The current pulls you out, not under.
2. Don't swim against it.
3. Swim out of it, along the shoreline or toward breaking waves, then angle back to the beach.
4. If you can't get out, float or tread water.
5. If you need help, yell and wave.

If someone else is caught

Don't become a second victim. The National Weather Service says to get help from a lifeguard, or call 911 if there is none; tell the person to swim along the shoreline; and throw them something that floats. Never go in without a flotation device. Even lifeguards rescue people in rip currents with one, and the NWS warns against forming a human chain. This matches the American Red Cross (opens in a new tab) rule for any water emergency: reach or throw, don't go.

How the trainer works

There are three short rounds. First, pick out the real clues of a rip current from a list. Second, put the five escape steps in order using the arrow buttons, which work with a keyboard and a screen reader. Third, choose what to do when a friend is caught. Each round explains every answer. Nothing you choose leaves this device. Practise with your children before a beach trip, then talk through the steps again on the sand.

For more, read rip currents: how to spot one and escape, how to help someone caught in a rip current and reach or throw, don't go.

What you can do today

1. Do all three rounds of the trainer with your family.
2. Learn your beach's warning flags with the beach flag decoder.
3. On your next beach day, swim near a lifeguard and point out the clues together.