Swimming in the Great Lakes? Look Out for Rip Currents

An important message from Wisconsin Sea Grant:

MILWAUKEE (09/03/09) -- Whether wading off a beach or training for a triathlon, Great Lakes swimmers need to beware of hazardous rip currents. These narrow, fast-moving channels of water can be just as dangerous as those at ocean beaches, overpowering even the strongest swimmers. Last summer, a Sheboygan teenager drowned while swimming in Lake Michigan when he was unable to return to shore.

“Rip currents are a significant concern for swimmers at Great Lakes beaches,” said University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Water Safety Specialist James Lubner. “They can occur in many places, when waves push water up on beaches. That water then flows back toward the lake, sometimes forming a strong current.”

Not even the strongest swimmers can successfully swim directly against the current, but escaping from the current is possible if one knows how, Lubner said.

“The key is to swim parallel to shore until you are out of the current, then swim at an angle away from the current and towards shore” he said. “The currents are relatively narrow streams of water moving straight away from shore. So swimming parallel to shore will get you out of the current quickly.”

“The important thing is not to panic,” Lubner emphasized. He also cautioned swimmers and boaters to remember that the cold waters of the Great Lakes can sap a person’s energy quickly through hypothermia.

The University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute annually provides Great Lakes public beaches with free informational posters and brochures about rip currents in both English and Spanish. The brochure in English is available online at http://aqua.wisc.edu/publications/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=458 or in Spanish at http://aqua.wisc.edu/publications/PDFs/RipCurrents_sp.pdf

Rip currents awareness week

Rip Current Awareness Week
June 7-13, 2009

In an effort to heighten public awareness of rip currents at surf beaches, each year NOAA designates the first full week of June as national Rip Current Awareness Week, coinciding with the traditional start of the summer vacation season.

Rip currents are currents of water moving away from shore. The strongest rip currents can attain speeds reaching 8 feet per second; this is faster than an Olympic swimmer can sprint! On average, more people die every year from rip currents than from shark attacks, tornadoes or lightning. According to the United States Lifesaving Association, 80 percent of surf beach rescues are attributed to rip currents, and more than 100 people die annually from drowning in rip currents.

To learn more, go to NOAA's Rip Current Safety website.

Great Lakes Rip Current Conference

Nationally, over 100 deaths a year are caused by rip currents, and the Great Lakes are not immune. From 2002 through 2003, 18 people died in Lake Michigan alone, and in 2003, a young man drowned in a rip current on Park Point in Duluth.

Many of these deaths could have been avoided by knowing what rip currents are, how to spot them, understanding the conditions in which they form, and knowing how to escape.

The day-long 2009 Great Lakes Rip Current Conference will begin at 9 a.m. June 4, 2009, at the Lafayette Community Center in Duluth, Minn. National experts on rip currents and hypothermia will discuss the mechanics of how, why, and where rip currents form in the Great Lakes; our ability to forecast rip current conditions; the effects of hypothermia and how cold water can affect rescues; and example programs from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota on educating beach users to recognize and escape from rip currents.

To learn more, go to Minnesota Sea Grant.