<p>Yes, it is possible to get trapped in a rip current, particularly if you are a weak swimmer. There are so many variables, e.g. speed of current, ability of the swimmer, his position in the current when he realises he is caught, and so on. It is impossible to recommend one escape technique which fits all situations. Don't try swimming underwater, that would be very dangerous. You will need all your breath and reserves of strength to keep you moving on the surface. Try to keep a cool head and not to panic.</p>

<p>If you are a strong swimmer and the rip current is only one or two knots, then a sprint for the shore against the current will very likely succeed, but if you find you are making no headway and becoming tired, better to go with the flow. There is no way of judging the speed of the current until you pit yourself against it. For a weak swimmer, this will be very alarming, so he should concentrate on keeping afloat and let the current carry him in a circle. With luck, the people on the shore will organise a rescue. </p>

<p>If the current has carried you right around and you find yourself approaching the shore, it would probably be worth making an attempt, this time with the current instead of against it, to sprint for the shore. There are sometimes notices on the shore warning against dangerous currents. Read these notices before going into the water.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-06T17:29:13.233Z
I guess you meant people can sometimes get stuck because they don't know what to do. That's not actually what my question was. My question was whether it was possible that somebody who can keep swimming a really long time but cannot swim very fast in any type of rip current could put themself into a spinning circle of water and then literally be unable to escape without swimming underwater because the water on the surface is flowing towards the centre. I thought I made it clear what my question was by putting it in a question box. I'm not trying to criticize you. I'm trying to justify myself.
Timothy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-06T17:34:33.260Z
If it's still not clear to most readers, I don't know what I can do to fix up my question although I'd probably have to ask a new one because the edit might invalidate your answer. If you don't know the answer to my actual question, then you don't need to write an answer. If you write an answer, I cannot check the accuracy of the answer because I don't know enough and don't want to invest a huge amount of time into researching rip currents and am trusting you did your own work to see that it's an accurate answer and if you take for granted that I'll catch a problem, the problem will sit there
Timothy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-06T17:40:05.703Z
unnoticed. If you do answer my question by stating that sometimes you cannot escape a circle of water without swimming underwater, you could make it neutral and the fact that you can't escape without swimming underwater is not saying you should swim underwater. However, maybe the world could organize a new global plan where if somebody normally has the ability to swim 5 km on the surface and they get trapped in a circle of water, they will yell for help and then somebody with good hearing will call 911 and get a police boat to rescue them. Once when I was swimming in the deep end of a
Timothy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-06T17:46:18.043Z
swimming pool, I discovered a way to stay still and keep breathing on the surface while expending very little energy. It was to temporarily hold my breath while lying on my back to make my lungs fuller and make me more buoyant then after a few seconds breathe out and then take another breath. Since that plan hasn't been organized yet, some people would probably do a really good job of thinking for themselves and not listen to your advice not to swim underwater and would decide that's they're only hope because the water is probably flowing towards the centre of the circle on the surface and
Timothy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-06T17:50:25.890Z
is probably flowing away from the centre far enough below the surface because it's flowing towards the centre on the surface and more water can't just keep building up there. I supposed if there were lots of people and one of them had an inflatable ring, they could ask them to pass on the message like broken telephone to throw them the ring so that they could sit or lie on it and greatly extend the amount of time they can last there waiting to be rescued.
Timothy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-11T15:20:44.603Z
Downvoting, because there is advice here (about trying to swim against it) that is against common lifesaving advice about rip currents. The usual advice is to swim parallel to the shore. This should get you out of the outgoing rip.
Semidiurnal Simon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-06T09:38:26.417Z
2019-12-06T09:38:26.417Z
Michael Walsby
<p>According to the YouTube video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8eIcPDlHJY" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rip Currents: How to Survive the Deadliest Ocean's Trick</a>, a rip current occurs when there are two circles of water spinning close to shore in opposite directions such that the water between them is flowing away from shore. My question is</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Is it possible to put yourself in a position where you're inside a spinning circle of water associated with a rip current and there's no way to escape from it without swimming underwater until you're rescued?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I don't know if that's possible or not. Maybe the water on the surface in a spinning circle is flowing around the circle and towards its centre and the water below the surface is flowing away from the centre. I won't get into the question about whether it's possible to escape the circle by swimming underwater. I think in that situation, the best thing is to swim directly away from the centre and not to swim against the current and let yourself keep being dragged around in circles. Even if you do that, the rate that water is flowing towards the centre might still be too fast. This is pretty much a yes no question so I think it should be easy to provide an answer that actually answers my question. Researchers might then be able to use the answer to invest in research on the best strategy to escape from a rip current.</p>

<ocean-currents>
Is it possible to get trapped in a circle of water in a rip current?
Timothy
# Is it possible to get trapped in a circle of water in a rip current?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-12-06)

According to the YouTube video [Rip Currents: How to Survive the Deadliest Ocean's Trick](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8eIcPDlHJY), a rip current occurs when there are two circles of water spinning close to shore in opposite directions such that the water between them is flowing away from shore. My question is

> Is it possible to put yourself in a position where you're inside a spinning circle of water associated with a rip current and there's no way to escape from it without swimming underwater until you're rescued?

I don't know if that's possible or not. Maybe the water on the surface in a spinning circle is flowing around the circle and towards its centre and the water below the surface is flowing away from the centre. I won't get into the question about whether it's possible to escape the circle by swimming underwater. I think in that situation, the best thing is to swim directly away from the centre and not to swim against the current and let yourself keep being dragged around in circles. Even if you do that, the rate that water is flowing towards the centre might still be too fast. This is pretty much a yes no question so I think it should be easy to provide an answer that actually answers my question. Researchers might then be able to use the answer to invest in research on the best strategy to escape from a rip current.

**Tags:** ocean-currents


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-12-06. Score: -2

Yes, it is possible to get trapped in a rip current, particularly if you are a weak swimmer. There are so many variables, e.g. speed of current, ability of the swimmer, his position in the current when he realises he is caught, and so on. It is impossible to recommend one escape technique which fits all situations. Don't try swimming underwater, that would be very dangerous. You will need all your breath and reserves of strength to keep you moving on the surface. Try to keep a cool head and not to panic.

If you are a strong swimmer and the rip current is only one or two knots, then a sprint for the shore against the current will very likely succeed, but if you find you are making no headway and becoming tired, better to go with the flow. There is no way of judging the speed of the current until you pit yourself against it. For a weak swimmer, this will be very alarming, so he should concentrate on keeping afloat and let the current carry him in a circle. With luck, the people on the shore will organise a rescue.

If the current has carried you right around and you find yourself approaching the shore, it would probably be worth making an attempt, this time with the current instead of against it, to sprint for the shore. There are sometimes notices on the shore warning against dangerous currents. Read these notices before going into the water.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I guess you meant people can sometimes get stuck because they don't know what to do. That's not actually what my question was. My question was whether it was possible that somebody who can keep swimming a really long time but cannot swim very fast in any type of rip current could put themself into a spinning circle of water and then literally be unable to escape without swimming underwater because the water on the surface is flowing towards the centre. I thought I made it clear what my question was by putting it in a question box. I'm not trying to criticize you. I'm trying to justify myself.  
> **username_0**: If it's still not clear to most readers, I don't know what I can do to fix up my question although I'd probably have to ask a new one because the edit might invalidate your answer. If you don't know the answer to my actual question, then you don't need to write an answer. If you write an answer, I cannot check the accuracy of the answer because I don't know enough and don't want to invest a huge amount of time into researching rip currents and am trusting you did your own work to see that it's an accurate answer and if you take for granted that I'll catch a problem, the problem will sit there  
> **username_0**: unnoticed. If you do answer my question by stating that sometimes you cannot escape a circle of water without swimming underwater, you could make it neutral and the fact that you can't escape without swimming underwater is not saying you should swim underwater. However, maybe the world could organize a new global plan where if somebody normally has the ability to swim 5 km on the surface and they get trapped in a circle of water, they will yell for help and then somebody with good hearing will call 911 and get a police boat to rescue them. Once when I was swimming in the deep end of a  
> **username_0**: swimming pool, I discovered a way to stay still and keep breathing on the surface while expending very little energy. It was to temporarily hold my breath while lying on my back to make my lungs fuller and make me more buoyant then after a few seconds breathe out and then take another breath. Since that plan hasn't been organized yet, some people would probably do a really good job of thinking for themselves and not listen to your advice not to swim underwater and would decide that's they're only hope because the water is probably flowing towards the centre of the circle on the surface and  
> **username_0**: is probably flowing away from the centre far enough below the surface because it's flowing towards the centre on the surface and more water can't just keep building up there. I supposed if there were lots of people and one of them had an inflatable ring, they could ask them to pass on the message like broken telephone to throw them the ring so that they could sit or lie on it and greatly extend the amount of time they can last there waiting to be rescued.  
> **username_2**: Downvoting, because there is advice here (about trying to swim against it) that is against common lifesaving advice about rip currents. The usual advice is to swim parallel to the shore. This should get you out of the outgoing rip.  

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