'Drowning Machine' Rip Currents Will Trap Thousands This Summer

The summer beach season rode in on monster waves over the weekend, but with the high surf comes real danger.

Rip currents account for 80 percent of Orange County beach rescues. Each year thousands are carried away in the currents, and each year, swimmers die trying to make it back to shore. As the crowds flock back to the beach, lifeguards are asking swimmers to take steps to protect themselves from rip currents.

“I have been in a rip current major rescue that lasted over 20 minutes with four lifeguards trying to save 15 to 20 people,” said San Clemente Marine Safety Officer Blake Anderson. “Rip currents account for close to 90 percent of our drownings.” In each of the last five years, San Clemente lifeguards rescued about 3,800 people.

Large rip currents can be as much as 50 yards wide and hundreds of yards long. The currents have a way of taking swimmers by surprise.

It’s a scenario that Orange County lifeguards are all too familiar with.

“Another name for them is drowning machine,” said Seal Beach Marine Safety Chief Joe Bailey. “Think of a rip current as a river in the ocean rushing out to sea. The water is murky and cloudy or brown and usually has a white cap.”

Similarly, Newport Beach lifeguard Mike Ure has seen a single current carry nearly two dozen people away at once. Last year, Newport Beach lifeguards rescued roughly 3,000 people—the vast majority having been caught up in rip currents, Ure said.

“They’re standing about knee-deep, then the water rises past the thigh level and carries them away,” said Ure. “Just like that you have 15 to 20 people swept up on one big rescue.”

Not all rip currents are created equal. Orange County has dozens of rip currents all with their own dangers and quirks.

In Seal Beach, lifeguards dubbed a recurring rip current at the end of Fourth Street, the ‘Freight Train.’

“When the waves are big, the Freight Train can come along and wash people out to the end of the pier in 40 seconds,” said Bailey.

The jetties and the seawall at the prier also help form permanent rip currents, and Surfside has a current that routinely carries people parallel to the shore.

The Point at 18th Street in Newport Beach has a predictable current that carries people parallel to the shore as well, Ure said.

A parallel current in Newport Beach near the Huntington Beach border occurs in shallow water because of a trench in the sand.

“Little kids, especially, get caught in that one,” Ure said. “You’ll see a parent and three kids, and the parent can help one, but the other two kids are on their own. It’s really sad when you see stuff like that happen.”

It’s not uncommon for lifeguards to clear an area of the beach where a rip current is active.

San Clement has more than 10 predictable rip currents caused by storm drains that wash out to the ocean,  Anderson said.

In lifeguard lingo, rip currents fall into categories. There is the permanent rip caused by a structure such as a jetty, pier or storm drain. There are fixed rips, which always happen in the same spot even if they aren’t always pulling hard. Then there are flash rips.

“We have a flash rip on east beach,” said Bailey. “It comes after a big set shows up, and after a few minutes, it’s gone.”

Finally, there is the traveling rip.

“They’ll move up and down the beach depending on the wave action and size,” Bailey said.

• The best way to survive a rip current is to avoid them. Before laying out the beach blankets, ask a lifeguard where the rip currents are active and where you and your family should swim.
• If you get caught in a rip current, don’t panic. “People realize what is happening to them and how far they have drifted, and they start to panic,” Bailey said. “The first thing they need to do is calm down.”
• Once in a rip current, don’t fight it. That’s how swimmers will exhaust themselves without making progress. Tread water, float and wave your arms in the air for help.
• If the rip current is pulling you out to sea, swim parallel to the shore until you're out of the current.
• If the current is carrying you parallel to the shore, ride it out and head back to the beach once you are out of it.
• Lifeguards wear and recommend polarized sunglasses to cut the glare of the sun and make it easier to see rip currents from the beach.

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