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Dr Jonica Newby

We assume we Australians we know a thing or two about the beach, right? Okay then. I'm going to show you a beach, and you tell me where you would swim.

NARRATION

Here's a beach, where would you swim? Write it down or shout it out so you don't forget. How about this picture? Where would you swim?

Dr Jonica Newby

Remember your answers and we'll find out later how you went. Because the uncomfortable truth is, most of us have no real idea about rips.

NARRATION

And the figures, distressingly, bear this out. Over twenty rip drownings in Australia every summer. Yet research is showing most of us have picked up a woeful mix of rip myths and half-truths. So prick up your ears, because there's a major new scientific push to help you avoid or survive a rip. It's called the Rip Survivor Study, and the man behind it is Dr Rob Brander.

Dr Rob Brander

So I'm just going to show you this picture, if you went to a beach, and this is what you saw, where would you swim on that beach?

NARRATION

He's long suspected Australians think rips are something that happen to someone else.

Dr Rob Brander

Who do you think is actually getting caught in rips?

Young Woman

Tourists.

Young Man

Tourists, probably.

Young Woman

I think us Australians are quite wise.

Dr Rob Brander

Point to where you would not swim.

NARRATION

So Rob's team went to two beaches where Australian residents holiday, and gave them this test.

Dr Rob Brander

Could you point to where you would swim if you showed up at this beach?

Young Woman

I would probably go more there.

NARRATION

The test you just did is part of it. The answer is, you should swim at 'C', because 'A' is a whopping great rip. And so is this. Well done if you got it right, because to Rob's horror, almost half of all Aussies didn't.

Young Woman

Probably here, I've got no idea.

Dr Rob Brander

Yeah? Okay.

Young Man

Right there.

Dr Rob Brander

The really scary thing is we say, 'Look, where would you swim in this picture?' Fifty per cent of them pointed at the rip. And that was not good.

NARRATION

All of which helps explain this.

Scott Clements

There was no flags, but there was a group of people swimming, and you figure well, that, that must be the safe place. But I just found myself about fifty metres further up the shore. And then it started to get scary. The only advice I could remember was to swim parallel with the beach. Didn't seem to work. And so I just sort of swam as hard as I could, get sore, run out of breath, start swimming. Didn't, didn't happen. And I just decided to give backstroke a go.

Once I got out I just about collapsed. Except that was the exact moment my girlfriend was getting towed out. I could see the look on her face, and I still remember it today. You know, terror. And I've yelled out to her, 'Do backstroke,' because you know, that's what seemed to work for me. And she came in. Pulled her up onto the sand. And then it was like, bang - you just feel completely exhausted. Just you're pretty upset, yeah.

NARRATION

And the weird thing was, once they recovered, he could see the rip.

Scott Clements

And you could see the, the dark blue water that we were stuck in, and it was clear as day. Because before that, never thought for a second, that's a rip. Never even got my attention.

NARRATION

He'd been sucked in by one of the biggest rip myths.

Scott Clements

I always heard somewhere that the sand would be churned up.

NARRATION

In fact, it's the dark green calm-looking water between the waves that are the most common rips. That's because the water that comes in with a wave has to head back out. Surfers know this, the rest of us, it seems, mostly don't.

It's stories like Scott's that Rob is now collecting for phase two of the Rip Survivor Study. He's finding out who gets caught, why they get caught, and how they got out.

Dr Rob Brander

So if you did get caught in a rip current, what would you do?

Young Woman

I would swim across it.

Young Woman

I would swim parallel to the beach.

NARRATION

Because the biggest debate in life-saving circles worldwide now, is whether we've been given the wrong advice.

Dr Rob Brander

These are the drifters …

NARRATION

A debate that was fuelled by an astonishing piece of research which we're about to repeat.

Dr Jonica Newby

GPS going in?

Dr Rob Brander

Yeah GPS is in, it's on. Waterproof case is locked. So that one's ready to go as well.

Dr Jonica Newby

Alright, let's put them in the rips.

Dr Rob Brander

Okay.

NARRATION

The rips here at Bondi Beach fall into a classic pattern - one at the headland and three in between, in semi-permanent channels.

Dr Rob Brander

We'll have to go out a fair ways.

NARRATION

So let's see what they actually do.

Dr Rob Brander

And off they go.

Dr Jonica Newby

Little beauties.

Dr Rob Brander

It's slow, but it's going.

NARRATION

But watch closely what happens next.

Dr Rob Brander

Now they're starting to turn the corner, so …

Dr Jonica Newby

Oh yeah, they're turning. Look, they're really travelling now, sideways. Did you see that, they're all actually coming in now in a neat little line. Like ducklings.

Dr Rob Brander

All six have …

Dr Jonica Newby

Look at them, they're all in.

Dr Rob Brander

All six have gone out, and all six have come back in.

Dr Jonica Newby

Prior to this, the textbooks have said all rips feed out behind the waves. But in 2010 an American published this exact study of a US beach, and showed to everyone's shock that instead the rip usually circles inside the wave break.

Dr Jonica Newby

Look at that, out they go again.

Dr Rob Brander

Yeah, so this, this rip is clearly recirculating, all of them.

NARRATION

This happens ninety per cent of the time, and it has real implications for the 'swim parallel' advice we've all been given. Because the problem is, rips and feeder currents can also run parallel to the beach. So if you accidentally swim against them, like Scott did, you're in a fight for your life.

Dr Rob Brander

The implications of course are, well maybe you don't want to swim your guts out to get out of the rip, when all you have to do is stay afloat. And within a matter of minutes, you know, you'll end up safe and sound in the sandbar.

NARRATION

So let's put it to the test - swim parallel or float.

Dr Jonica Newby

Okay, let's do it.

Swimmer

Alright.

Dr Jonica Newby

Floating, floating, floating …

NARRATION

Hm, quite relaxing, really. And lo and behold, we eventually come full circle, just like the GPS drifters.

Dr Jonica Newby

How long did that take, Rob?

Dr Rob Brander

I reckon it took about eight minutes.

Dr Jonica Newby

Okay. It seemed pretty slow.

NARRATION

Now we swim parallel.

Dr Rob Brander

Okay, let's swim.

NARRATION

Half in one direction, half in the other.

Dr Jonica Newby

This is a bit harder.

NARRATION

Well I'm fighting a feeder current, but look at the guys who went the other way - they're already on a sand bar, and out.

Dr Rob Brander

That was interesting.

Dr Jonica Newby

Yeah, I ended up really swimming against it at one point.

Dr Rob Brander

Yeah, one group who swam south had it a lot easier than we did.

Dr Jonica Newby

Yeah.

Dr Rob Brander

Because we were going against the feeder current.

Dr Jonica Newby

Yeah.

Dr Rob Brander

That's what often happens. It depends on which way you swim.

NARRATION

So for the average swimmer who may not be good at identifying currents, floating may be the best, at least until you can work out where the waves are that will help you in, and swim toward them. Bearing in mind about ten per cent of the time, the rip won't bring you back by itself. Though even then it won't go much past the back waves.

Dr Rob Brander

People drown because they panic. Swim parallel is great if you're a good swimmer. But if you're not a good swimmer, it's my personal perspective, as long as you're afloat, you're alive.

NARRATION

It's way too early to say what will come out of this important research, which will roll out over the next few years, or even whether rip advice will change. But here at Catalyst we'll try to keep you abreast of developments. And if you are a rip survivor, Rob asks you to join their online study. And in the meantime, there's one really important thing every one of you can do.

Dr Jonica Newby

Just learn to play 'spot the rip'. It's a simple game, fun for the whole family. Every time you see a beach, spot the rips.

NARRATION

That way, if there are no flags, you won't get caught.