Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning

[spidey07]

Back up again.

MotionMan

The take away, if they aren't fighting, they're in very serious trouble. Once the body's actions kick in beyond the thinking mind, they're running on mother nature and those are huge signals to act.

I'll point out again "but he was a great swimmer!". It doesn't matter, I'm a seriously strong swimmer, scuba diver, blah, blah. But if water hits my lungs or trachea I don't really have much to say about it at that point.

Think about the times you've swallowed a splash of water down the "wrong hole". yeah, no jokes. Imagine the violent coughs in and out you couldn't control and yet you had plenty of air to breathe.

 

[grohl]

perfect timing as summer approaches. good info here.

 

[jhansman]

Swim perpendicular to the current's direction, right?

Correct. That, and don't panic. People have a way of thinking the rip will carry them out to sea; not true. You may end up a few hundred yds. from shore, but if you use the buoyancy tips noted here and just calm down, you can swim out of it and back to shore. Panic is the killer.

 

[destrekor]

Correct. That, and don't panic. People have a way of thinking the rip will carry them out to sea; not true. You may end up a few hundred yds. from shore, but if you use the buoyancy tips noted here and just calm down, you can swim out of it and back to shore. Panic is the killer.

I can imagine the panic bit leading to people tiring themselves out way earlier than normal, since that would screw up the breathing pattern so much (at a detriment to buoyancy, no less).

 

[Gooberlx2]

Also, everyone should learn to swim, no matter your age, financial situation or typical proximity to water.

Definitely. Should be mandatory to graduate middleschool, imo.

 

[Ichinisan]

I wasn't drowning. I was doing...um...something else.