Rough Waters Mean 200 Rescues on Ocean City Beaches

Heavy surf didn’t keep people out of the water over the weekend in Ocean City, which led lifeguards to make almost 200 rescues in two days.

The rescues on Sunday and Monday plucked swimmers from dangerous rip currents and off rocks.

The Ocean City Beach Patrol is on duty from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, and the tourist destination urges visitors to stay out of the water when lifeguards aren’t on patrol.

But, that warning isn’t always heeded, as was the case Sunday night when off-duty rescuers had to jump in to help three people trapped against rocks while swimming that evening Sunday, The Baltimore Sun reports. They were treated for a head, back and leg injury.

Many of the rescues were preventative, a beach patrol supervisor told the newspaper, to guard against a dangerous rip current that could pull unsuspecting swimmers away from shore. This summer the patrol has averaged 150 rescues a week, the newspaper reports.

Captain Butch Arbin of the Beach Patrol told DelMarvaNow his department reported 77 rescues on Sunday, but almost none on Friday and Saturday, when weather conditions were calmer. After pulling everyone out of the water at 5:10 p.m. Sunday, lifeguards urged swimmers to stay on the beach.

The patrol offers these tips to avoid a rip current:

• Never swim alone.
• If caught in a rip current, remain calm to conserve energy and think clearly.
• Don’t fight the current. Swim out of the current parallel to the shoreline. When out of the current, swim toward shore.
• If you are unable to swim out of the rip current, float or calmly tread water.
• When out of the current, swim toward shore.
• If you are still unable to reach shore, draw attention to yourself: face the shore, wave your arms, and yell for help.

»Screenshot of boardwalk from Ocean City webcam