I have been caught in two rips on Emerald Coast. The first was during the Gulf Coast triathlon in 1993 or 1994 at Panama City Beach. We had an out-and-back swim of 1.2 miles. The ?out? part seemed to go OK, but when I turned to return it was if I was absolutely swimming in place. I made little headway to the shore and was confused because of this. Finally, a swim marshal in a kayak directed me to swim laterally to shore and then to the beach and I finally made it in. It took me around 50 minutes for that swim, when a distance of 1.2 would normally take in the mid-20?s. I was totally exhausted, never recovered, and it turned out to be my slowest half-Ironman triathlon ever.
The next time I encountered a rip I knew a little bit of what to expect and how to react. It was during a triathlon held at Seaside in November. When we started the race we were pulled out by a rip at an amazing pace as I recall ? we were out a 1/8th mile in no time ? literally seconds. I turned parallel to the shore, and ultimately rounded the final buoy to go in and ended up with my fastest time ever in a .5M swim.
Obviously, I can testify that rips can be a problem even for someone with decent swim skills. For a tourist, without knowledge of the Gulf and local conditions, and limited swimming skills, I?m sure it must be a terrifying experience.
Fundamentally, I do agree with those that argue that this is a matter of personal responsibility. But, pragmatically, I think perhaps something more can be done than our friendly crab. I would think that a pilot program of lifeguards at the major public beach accesses in SoWal might be considered. Say what?