RIPPER SAFETY ADVICE
FOR the first time in almost two decades no one died off Gold Coast beaches last summer.
But Shannon Eckstein, the greatest ironman of all time, knows you should never become complacent and turn your back on the ocean.
Rips are the biggest killer off our beaches and there have been 69 deaths on Gold Coast surf in the past 17 years.
Determined to ensure beachgoers were safe this summer, Eckstein told the Gold Coast Bulletin how to spot and survive a rip if swimmers come into trouble.
Eckstein, a six-time world ironman champion, didn’t have to look far to find a rip at his home beach at Northcliffe.
SPOTTING A RIP
USUALLY on open beaches rips will run between two sand banks.
When the waves break they push water towards the shore and all that water has to go back out to sea.
So it will flow out of the deeper channels forming a rip, and that’s when you can usually see darker water running out to sea.
It’s dangerous because often it will look like a great spot to go swimming because there aren’t many waves.
What makes that area look so calm is water rushing back out to sea.
Generally, when there’s less white water it’s because there’s more water rushing out.
A rip is usually a deeper, darker, murkier section of water.
SURVIVING A RIP
IF you get pulled out from a shore break you need to remain calm and try to get the attention of a lifeguard or lifesaver on the beach by raising your hand in the air.
When you’re treading water it can be pretty tough work so you’ve got to let the rip take you out to sea and remain calm. Don’t use any energy you don’t have to.
Raise your arm for the people on the beach or if you see a boardrider nearby yell out to them.
If you’re a strong swimmer, you can swim parallel to the beach to the sand bank next to the rip. When you get to that bank you might be able to stand and make your way in.