Rip current conditions dangerous today; P.E.I. woman describes getting caught in one

The tide on the North Shore of the Island was high and the water was rough when Kele Redmond headed down to the beach with four friends on Friday.

Diving through the waves Redmond thought to herself, "I'm having the swim of my life."

And, she said, "It very nearly was the last swim of my life."

When Redmond turned around she quickly realized how far she'd been carried out to sea. Although she isn't sure how far that was, as someone who grew up swimming the Island waters, Redmond knows it's further than she'd ever been in her entire life.

"I thought, 'Oh well I'll just swim in,' and I started to swim and I couldn't make any traction," she told Island Morning's Laura Chapin.

"The waves were big and then panic."

Caught in a rip current, Redmond was far from her friends and couldn't touch the bottom.

"I just immediately leaned on my back and I just prayed like, 'Is this my time? I'm not ready.'"

Another warning Thursday

Parks Canada issues warnings for P.E.I. National Park whenever conditions are ripe for rip currents to develop.

The agency has just posted its second one this week, saying "entering the water is not recommended" at beaches within the park's boundaries.

The warning said the current air temperature as of 9 a.m. Thursday is 18 C and the water is measuring 16 C.

From the warning: "Rip currents are a hazard on P.E.I. beaches and form when waves break near the shoreline; piling up water between the breaking waves and the beach. One of the ways this water returns to sea is to form a rip current; a narrow stream of water moving swiftly away from shore. The danger is when swimmers become trapped in the rapid current and are swept offshore."

Current structures 'sitting there waiting'

According to Chris Houser, a professor in the school of environment and the dean of science at Windsor University, the changing weather has an impact on how rip currents form.

He said in the spring, storms will pull sandbars close to the beach further from shore. As the season ends, smaller waves will then move sand on that bar back toward the beach, becoming more three-dimensional. When the water breaks over the shallow spots, it is then funnelled out through the deeper spots.

"That all starts to set itself up into the summer," said Houser. "So they're just sitting there waiting."

"All you need is one windy stormy day and now what has looked like a fairly calm safe beach, the channel's already there. The waves are now breaking. The current has been activated."

'I'm not going to make it'

Remembering what she knew about rip currents, Redmond said she tried to conserve her energy by following the pattern: swim, rest, swim, rest.

Growing tired, she thought: "I got to do something else because I'm not going to make it."

So stuck in the ocean, Redmond began to scream. But with the wind blowing, she said her friends back on shore couldn't hear her.

"I watched, you know, like as if I was in a movie, in the water struggling and them just continuing about their playful activities. It was the loneliest feeling."

Redmond said "by the grace of the universe" the wind died down and her friends heard her calls.

"They came rushing down the beach."

With their encouragement, Redmond said she kept swimming gently, eventually managing to strike a rock and used her foot to push off it.

"I got a little bit of hope, I got a little bit of strength from there," she said.

"Next thing I knew, I hit the bottom of the ocean."

After a few more strides Redmond said she was in her friends' arms.

'Respect the ocean'

"She did exactly what she's supposed to do," said Houser.

"Try to swim, not against it, but away from it or to the side parallel to the beach. Float for a little while getting your feet up, your mouth out of that water. And then when you can find traction — grab it."

Houser said the system that creates rip currents is an important process that helps the beach recover from storms. Sometimes, even when the waves are big, the spot that looks the calmest isn't always the safest, he said.

"The safest beach is the one with lifeguards."

As for Redmond, she said she still plans to go swimming but perhaps will stick to the south side of the Island for the rest of the season.

"Oh God, don't wish it on anybody," she said. "I just want people to respect the ocean."

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