From the book, Collateral Crimes:
He felt as if he were reliving a memory. He was 11, back in Newport Beach, struggling against a wave that had just crashed in front of him, icy water slamming him down, holding him under, the salt stinging his sinuses. What had his father told him? Push off the bottom and grab a lungful of air before it pulls you back down. Push off the bottom.
He couldn’t feel the bottom.
The times I got pushed around, I did my best to keep my face from being pushed against the bottom - never had the power to get up for air until it deposited me in the shallows - fortunately that was never more than 10 or 12 seconds in the area I generally body surfed - seemed like a minute or better though.