good info, also ( in case anybody doesnt know) before you go in the ocean, watch what it is doing study the wave patterns.
Know how to swim a riptide, relax and ride the current until it lets you go or sweeps back to shore then swim slightly parralell to shore with the current
If the tide is rising it is generally safer than when it is going out where the bottom will drop out in front of a wave
most waves (unless its chaotic storm waves) come in sets, if you wait between sets you can swim out past where they crest out of danger. Sometimes the last waves in a set will be larger , other times the first
remember most of the power in a wave is above the surface, only a small amount is under water so you can survive a big wave by diving and swimming under it, like my dear old dad said “have respect for the ocean not fear” I have litterally hundreds of hours swimming/surfing the California coast much of it red flag as there is almost always a rip tide
Good info. And good that you could swim in red flag conditions. But it’s a chance that some people should not take, IMHO.