Surf Life Saving Queensland boss warns rips more of a risk than sharks to Gold Coast
FORGET sharks — rip tides are the major danger for beach goers this summer, particularly bravado-fuelled young Australian males.
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RIPS pose a greater danger to beachgoers than sharks this summer, particularly bravado-fuelled young Australian males.
That is the message from Surf Life Saving Queensland which yesterday launched its #dontrisktherip campaign on the Gold Coast in an effort to reduce the national drowning toll.
Across Australia, 68 people lost their lives to drownings for the financial year to July 1, with 20 of those attributed to rips.
Eleven of the drownings were in Queensland with about half of those caused by rips. There were three drownings at Gold Coast beaches the past year with one each at Southport Spit, Broadbeach and Main Beach.
Surf Life Saving Queensland chief operating officer George Hill, on the Gold Coast to launch the rip awareness campaign yesterday, said on top of an average 20 rip-related deaths a year nationally, lifesavers carried out thousands of rescues annually because of them.
“Rips are the number one cause of members of the public losing their life at the beach,” he said.
A common misconception was the biggest at-risk group were tourists but that was not correct, he said.
Tourists accounted for just 15 per cent of rip-related drownings.
“The high risk demographic is Australian males aged 15 to 39. They think they are 10-foot tall and bulletproof and are more likely to swim outside the flags or away from patrolled beaches.
“Sharks are certainly topical right now but I would be more concerned about rips if I went to the beach. The chances of getting caught in a rip are much higher than being attacked by shark.”
Mr Hill said rips tended to be indicated by calm water. Sandy colour patches beyond the surf zone could also indicate a rip.
He advised swimmers to stay between the red and yellow flags, saying often rips were present within just 50 metres of flagged safety zones.
His advice to anyone caught in a rip was to try to stay calm, float where they were and raise a solitary arm to attract the attention of rescuers.
The other option for stronger swimmers was to try and swim parallel to the beach and find a sandbank or hope for waves to push you back to shore.
“Never swim directly against the current,” he said.
“The majority of drownings attributed to rip currents have come after swimmers have begun to panic and tried to swim against the current, leaving them too exhausted to keep their heads above water,” Mr Hill said.