A rip current is like a shallow river or channel of water on the surface of the lake or ocean.
Rip currents are strong, and can pull you out away from the shore even if you are a good swimmer.
Special weather conditions can cause rip currents to form. Strong winds blowing toward the shore
causes water pressure to build up on the sandbar. (A sandbar is a ridge of underwater sand near the shore.)
The water pressure between the shore and the sand bar gets stronger. There is just too much water to stay
in one place. Eventually, the water "rips through" the sandbar and forms a channel, usually only about
20 yards wide. It is within this channel that the water rushes out to sea. This is called a rip current.
Break the Grip of the Rip
Knowing what to do if caught in a rip current's grip can save your life or the life of a
friend. Trying to swim straight to the beach against a rip current is just too difficult. Even a good
swimmer will become tired and might even drown. The best escape is to turn sideways to the shore,
and wade or swim until you are out of the rip current. Then move back toward shore at an angle away
from the rush of water. If you can float, you might even just relax and "go with the flow." Rip currents
do not usually go out very far. Let the rip current carry you until it slows down a short distance offshore.
Then swim toward the beach away from the rip current.
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