Michi­gan City Parks & Recre­ation Department

By Jeremy Kienitz, MC Parks Recre­ation Director

Rip Cur­rents and Beach Safety

Vis­i­tors come to Wash­ing­ton Park beach to enjoy the nat­ural beauty of Lake Michigan’s coast­line. Some enjoy the beach itself, while oth­ers enjoy sun bathing and sights such as the Light­house and Chicago sky­line. Michi­gan City is very for­tu­nate to have such a beau­ti­ful attrac­tion and recre­ational area to spend the sum­mer months with fam­ily and friends. As won­der­ful as it can be, Lake Michi­gan still presents a dan­ger to those who visit in the form of rip currents.

Rip cur­rents are pow­er­ful, chan­neled cur­rents of water flow­ing away from shore. They can occur at any beach with break­ing waves, includ­ing Lake Michi­gan, and they can be deadly. Rip cur­rents are par­tic­u­larly dan­ger­ous for weak or non-​swimmers. Rip cur­rent speeds are typ­i­cally 1 – 2 feet per sec­ond. How­ever, speeds as high as 8 feet per sec­ond have been mea­sured; this is faster than an Olympic swim­mer. Thus, rip cur­rents can sweep even the strongest swim­mer out to sea. The fol­low­ing tips could save your life.

• Swim at a life­guard pro­tected beach
• Never swim alone
• Be cau­tious at all times! If in doubt, don’t go out!
• Obey all instruc­tions and orders from life­guards. Life­guards are trained to iden­tify poten­tial haz­ards. Ask a life­guard about the con­di­tions before enter­ing the water.
• Stay at least 400 feet away from piers and jet­ties. Per­ma­nent rip cur­rents often exist along­side these structures.
• Pay espe­cially close atten­tion to chil­dren and elderly when at the beach. Even in shal­low water, wave action can cause loss of footing.

If you are ever caught in a rip cur­rent, remain calm to con­serve energy and think clearly. Never try to fight the cur­rent or swim against it as you will tire quickly and become fatigued. To remove your­self from a rip cur­rent swim par­al­lel to shore. When out of the cur­rent swim at an angle, away from it, towards the shoreline.

Rip cur­rents cause more than 100 deaths annu­ally in the United States and cause 80% of all res­cues by beach life­guards. These sta­tis­tics show the impor­tance of always adher­ing to warn­ings and beach clos­ings. The Wash­ing­ton Park Life­guard Staff is avail­able for infor­ma­tion while on duty Memo­r­ial Day through Labor Day. Please take the oppor­tu­nity to ask them ques­tions about the con­di­tions prior to enter­ing the water. It will help keep you safe and could save your life!

• < Prev