Swimming is an excellent, low-impact, whole-body workout, and swimming “in the wild” is a great way to enjoy nature. However, like many outdoor sports, open water swimming is not without risks. By following a few simple guidelines these risks can be minimized:
Rip currents (sometimes inaccurately described as rip tides or undertow) are narrow but powerful currents of water flowing (ripping) swiftly away from shore. Rip currents vary in size and speed can occur at any beach with breaking waves. Rip currents will not pull a swimmer under, but will carry them out to deep water.
Hyperthermia is an abnormally high body temperature which can lead to heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heatstroke. Hyperthermia is the opposite of Hypothermia. Hyperthermia occurs when the body’s heat-regulation system becomes overwhelmed by outside factors, causing a person’s internal temperature to rise dangerously. Hyperthermia is usually the result of overexertion in hot, humid environments.
Sea foam, also called ocean foam, beach foam, or spume, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in turbulent waters. It is a lathery substance composed of dissolved organic matter that floats on the surface of water and gets accumulated at or near the shore.
by The new captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the couple swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”
When swimming in open water, expect to encounter other users and watercraft. Fishermen, boaters, paddle boarders, windsurfers, and others may be in the water around you, and to be safe around them, you need to be seen. A swim buoy, such as the New Wave Swim Buoy is the perfect swim accessory to make you visible.
There are millions of swimming pools and swimmable natural bodies of water in the United States, but more than one-third of the adult population can't swim the length of a pool. About 10 people drown every day.
