[I see my hands]

When caught in a rip tide do not attempt to swim against it. Swim 50 yards parallel to the shore and try to come in again. Rip tides are strong but most often narrow.

[Alice in Wonderland]

The vast majority of people who drown are DFD's - daytrippers - who have no idea of the dangers of the ocean.

Lifeguards searched the waterline along Coney Island shore to find 10-year-old Akira Johnson.

[vbmoneyspender]

When caught in a rip tide do not attempt to swim against it. Swim 50 yards parallel to the shore and try to come in again. Rip tides are strong but most often

You shouldn't even attempt to swim - particularly if you are not a good swimmer. The worst thing you can do when you are in the ocean is tire yourself out. You do that and you drown. In these situations, its generally best to just float. As you float, you'll get pushed back towards shore. And if you don't get pushed back in, you'll certainly increase your chances of getting rescued.

[piytar]

Good advice. Was going to post the same thing if someone else hadn’t.

I got caught in one once in Long Beach, CA. (Or was it Huntington? Its been a while.) Did just that, swam crossways to the rip tide about 40 yards and got free of it. It had pulled me about 100 yards further out, swam right back into shore, no problem. Not even really tired, laid out for 10 minutes, then went right back into the water.

If you try to fight the rip tide, you will lose and you will just become too exhausted to swim back in.

[beebuster2000]

unfortunately given the state of public education in NYC, most swimmers don't know what “parallel”means

[Krankor]

The best thing, is to do what the professionsals do. Shove one of these down your swimming trunks and just blow it up when needed. It's excellent for parents with large families who need rescuing.