On Monday I was pulled into the VERY STRONG riptide at PlayaFronton. I would have drown had it not been for the young, Dominican man who swam out to save me - and then the boat that came to my rescue. These tides are sometimes called “drowningmachines”. I am a very strong swimmer and was literally minutes from my death.It blew off one of my fins and my snorkel. Visually, if looking from the beach you will see the wavesbreaking on the reef. The area that appears calm in the middle of these waves is the riptide. The current itself starts a lot further in toward the shore. The mistakes I made were: obviously swimming too close to this area. Trying to swim back to shore against the current- and not being able to - I panicked. I had used every ounce of my energy. I was literally drowning – it causes panic. It is said to swim parallel to the shore to try to get out of the current. I think this current was way too strong. Riptides can be as fast as 8 feet per second. Or…. Let the current take you out to sea and let the waves take you back to shore. Another mistake I had made was trying to float on my back with my snorkel in my mouth. In my ignorance I didn’t know that this would not allow me to breathe. I have snorkeled probably close to 100 times in my life and never had the need to try out floating on my back. What saved me was the young man swimming into the current and telling me in a very calm way to CHILL – that a boat was coming. He continued to tell me that in a very calmway. It is beyond me that a person who knew the danger would swim in there to try to save someone. I am humbled.
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