//they can’t call out for help or thrash around//
No they cant because they are not taking air, they are taking in water. It does not take long at all, 30 seconds or so like the article says.
Null, thanks for pinging me.
I almost drowned on a beach on the Big Island which is notorious for drownings and rip tides. The drop off to deep water is very radical and it creates rips that are very dangerous. I was in my 30s and a very strong swimmer, was in water with around 20 other people up to the chest. I felt perfectly safe. I got in the rip and was instantly carried out, off to the side, and under the water in mere seconds. Around and around under the water, head bumping on sand, no way to know which way was “Up”.
Instantly I went into prayer (was automatic - not a conscious decision) and within a second was thrown on some rocks, maybe 100 feet or more down the side of the beach. I was trembling and bruised, and if I had not surfaced, my lungs would have been full of water.
I was always too afraid to swim in waves after that. Drowning is a terrible way to die.