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Photograph of one person pulled from waters off Coney Island (he was saved) by carolitajohnson on Flickr
This past weekend, the Coast Guard, NYPD, FDNY and other groups looked for swimmers missing off local shores but ultimately did not find any of the three people who were apparently caught in riptides. Since Friday, four other people drowned off NYC and Long Island beaches.
On Friday, two people drowned and two others were missing off Long Island and the Rockaways, while a man drowned off Long Beach on Saturday. The family of 10-year-old Akira Johnson, last seen swimming at Coney Island on Saturday, was sad, frustrated and angry. Her father told the Daily News, "There should have been more lifeguards. It's frustrating because we don't know where she's at."
Out on Long Island, the NY Times reports the Long Beach chief lifeguard thinks the drownings off his beach could have been avoided; Paul Gillepsie said, "People are not supposed to go into the water after we close. But a lot of people stay on the beach. They pay to get on the beach, they want to get the most out of their weekends. But they’re uneducated about the water. They don’t realize how dangerous the Atlantic Ocean can get.”
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The father says there should have been more lifeguards. Right, it's always someone else's fault.
When I was about 5 I almost drowned in the Atlantic at the Jersey Shore.
So, I would probably say that the safest place for children, and anyone else for that matter, to go swimming is in a swimming pool properly staffed with a life guard.
It's a definite tradgedy that these people died, but the problem isn't a lack of lifeguards, it's a lack of education. I grew up in central Florida going to the beaches every week. There were never lifeguards, and I never saw someone drown.
Everyone needs to understand that when you get caught in a riptide, you don't panic and try to swim back to shore. You want to, as calmly as possible, swim parallel to the shore until you get out of the rip tide. Also, if the water seems in anyway threatening, you shouldn't go in.
I was in the Hamptons this weekend, and the riptides were nothing you wouldn't experience on the average summer day in Florida.
Also, a more personal anecdote. Whenever my sister and I were in the water, my dad was always right on shore in a chair watching us. If they had to run to the car for any amount of time, we'd get out and wait for him to get back. He'd of course be sitting under an umbrella and reading, but he'd always know where we were. Maybe parents up here should follow suit.
Doesn't it seem to be there are a large number of drownings this summer compared to other years?
Regional Climate Change!
A body washed up on the beach in NJ this morning.
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080728/NEWS/80728026&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL
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I got caught in a riptide when I was 10 years old out on Jones Beach. It was the worst experience ever, I was tumbled through the water and had no idea which way was up or down. I couldn't see the shore to know to swim parallel to it. My aunt managed to pull me out.