Ex-lifeguard leads push to educate swimmers on deadly Great Lakes rip currents

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Former lifeguard Nathan MacIntyre is on a crusade to teach others about the dangers lurking in Southwestern Ontario Great Lakes after an especially deadly summer in the surf. MacIntyre, 43, is a massage therapist who worked 18 seasons as a lifeguard until 2016, guarding swimmers at Port Stanley’s main beach. Following the drowning death of 14-year-old Omer Buz there in July, MacIntyre’s passion for water safety was reignited. The 43-year-old is part of the Elgin County Drowning Prevention Coalition and hopes to raise awareness of rip currents through presentations to first responders and the public. He spoke with LFP reporter Brian Williams.

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WHAT IS A RIP CURRENT?

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) – an American government agency that studies and monitors the environment and climate – rip currents form when waves break close to the shoreline and cause water to “pile up between the waves and the beach,” and can occur at any beach with breaking waves. The water then flows away from the shore through a rip current, described by MacIntyre as a powerful “river of water that pulls people into deeper water.” Wind direction and speed, structures in the water and lake bottom conditions are factors influencing rip currents, MacIntyre said. According to NOAA, rip currents are often referred to as “drowning machines by lifeguards and are the leading cause of rescues for people in the surf.”

TYPES OF RIP CURRENTS

Although there are several categories of rip currents, MacIntyre called “channelized rip currents,” which occupy deeper channels that interrupt shallow, mostly shore-parallel sandbars as the most documented type. MacIntyre mentioned “focused rip currents” as another common type of current controlled by near-shore variations in breaking waves created by offshore underwater terrain. He also noted structurally controlled rip currents, which occur near natural formations or man-made structures, such as Port Stanley’s pier, as another type of rip current.

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN UNDERTOWS AND RIP CURRENTS

Although undertows are dangers associated with beaches, MacIntyre said many “near-shore emergencies are due to rip currents.” Undertows, also called bed-return flows, is a lakeward return of water near the bottom surface driven by breaking waves and often mistakenly called rip currents, which MacIntyre called “more hazardous.”

CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT

For those caught in a rip current, the 43-year-old said although it sounds “counterintuitive,” staying calm, floating, holding your breath and keeping your head above water can result in the rip current releasing people caught in the current. MacIntyre said fighting rip currents is a common reaction but ultimately it is a perilous response. “Everybody freaks out and fights the current, because now they can’t touch and now there’s waves going overhead . . . they naturally swim toward the beach and that’s when people get tired out” in deeper water, MacIntyre said.

PREVENTION

Swimming at beaches with lifeguards on duty is recommended because a lifeguard is likely the “only thing that’s going to save those who don’t know what to do in that situation,” MacIntyre said. A rip current warning system through Environment Canada, like warning systems for weather, would be a worthwhile measure, he said. Although beaches such as at Grand Bend and Port Stanley have lifeguards and provide warnings for beachgoers, there are many beaches that aren’t guarded. A warning system is in place through NOAA in the U.S. already, he said. The former lifeguard cited education and specific rip current training as preventative measures.

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RIP CURRENT MYTHS

NOAA states it’s a fallacy that strong swimmers can outswim a rip current. Measured at speeds up to eight kilometres an hour, rip currents can move faster than an Olympic swimmer.

Rip currents don’t pull people under water, they pull them further away from shore, according to the NOAA.

Contrary to the belief that human chains are effective rescue techniques, they can be dangerous. Additional people can be pulled into the water putting them at risk, NOAA states.

Rip currents aren’t just present during bad weather, according to NOAA’s website. They can occur in favourable weather conditions, even in waves less than a metre high.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Nathan MacIntyre can be contacted at blguardnm@hotmail.com for more information on rip currents.

MacIntyre recommends visiting www.ecdrowningprevention.com, www.greatlakeswatersafety.org, www.weather.gov/safety/ripcurrent-science to learn more.

bwilliams@postmedia.com

@BrianWatLFPress

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

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