Rip currents kill 71 people/year but escape technique is unknown

Rip currents cause an average of 71 drowning deaths per year in the United States (2013-2022) and are the leading cause of lifeguard rescues, accounting for over 80% of beach rescues annually. The escape technique is straightforward: swim parallel to shore until out of the current, then swim back in. But the vast majority of beachgoers do not know this. At Ocean City, Maryland, over 90% of beach rescues result from rip current conditions that swimmers poorly understand. Panicked swimmers exhaust themselves fighting directly against the current, which can flow at 1-2 meters per second (faster than an Olympic swimmer's sustainable pace). A common and dangerous misconception is that rip currents pull swimmers underwater; in reality, they are strongest at the surface and move swimmers offshore, not down. This knowledge gap persists because beach safety signage is inconsistent, often absent, or uses text-heavy formats that visitors ignore. There is no standardized national rip current education requirement for coastal communities, and most people's mental model of ocean danger is waves and sharks, not invisible lateral currents. Schools in landlocked states never cover it, even though their residents are the most at-risk tourists at coastal beaches.