Four Principles of Water Safety

In any endeavor, you can usually find basic ideas that always remain true (Principles) to that which you are learning. I spent the last 11 years now in the ocean learning how to surf and swim in it among other things. I spent the last eight as a lifeguard in three different water safety agencies between California and Hawaii. While working with these agencies I learned that there are some common themes that keep recurring when it comes to being safe in open water. I thought about the best way to identify them in a simple and easy to remember manner so that no matter what it is that you are trying to do in the water-you can always think about them as a checklist, or as a guide to help keep you safe. So here goes:

The four principles of water safety are: Know yourself, Know the conditions, Know your
equipment, and Respect the water.

Sounds simple right? Well, there is a lot involved with each of those ideas if you really think about them and keep them in mind. Here is how I think about them:

Know Yourself:
This is more than just a philosophical statement. Knowing yourself means in physical terms, that you know your abilities(i.e. novice, intermediate level), your limitations, and also just as important what your goals are. If you want to learn how to swim out in open water then you need to know how well you can swim in a pool, how comfortable you are in currents, what your endurance level is, etc.. If you want to swim in an open water race then you need an even greater understanding of those things I just mentioned. In surfing this can also mean that you know how much confidence you have in your abilities. You don't want to pull back because you are too scared to make the drop in large waves, you can get hurt by becoming a part of the lip and going head over heels over the falls. You really have to know what you can handle and be prepared for it mentally. I could go on and on with other examples but we need to move on.

Know the Conditions:
This is probably something that you will never stop learning, especially if you decide to move on to greater and more physically demanding activities in the water. Learning the conditions of the water means not only learning the multitude of variables there are (I.e. wind, swell direction, tide, currents, the bathymetry of the bottom, sand bars, reefs, ledges etc) but also what variables to consider for what it is you are doing. Scuba divers don't need to know the size of the waves that are breaking above their heads, but they may need to know what the currents are doing in the area they are diving at that may be caused by the swell causing the breaking waves. Some people spend years learning these things. If you talk to experienced watermen you will be surprised how much information they can tell you about a particular area (of beach and water). There are sailors who can tell you there is a landmass nearby just by looking at the currents around their boat. Knowing the conditions means you develop and fine tune your attention to detail. It means that you study the area (beach and water) that you are going to be doing your water activity in. (I.E. studying your entry and exit points at the beach so you can get in and out safely even if the conditions develop into something more serious and threatening.) Knowing the conditions can make or break your session in the water. Always study the conditions and keep learning about them, especially if you are going to an area that you have never been in before. Moving on....

Know your Equipment:
Talk to any lifeguard or waterman and they can tell you how important it is to know what your equipment can do and what condition it is in. Knowing your equipment means that you take care of it because it takes care of you. (This is probably coming from my Marine Corp days, Ask a Marine what his rifle means to him and you'll see why.) If you were to swim out on a big day at the beach with waves crashing overhead, you don't want to find out that the reason your fins came flying off was because you had swim fins on instead of surf fins-which are designed to work in waves. Nor would you want to realize that you left your fins in the sun all the time and the crystallized rubber cracked and your fins failed you when you needed them the most. That's from a lifeguard's perspective. But you can probably see how this can relate to anything else you would use and rely on in the water. One other thing about knowing your equipment, you should try to learn the tradition of where your equipment came from. This is giving respect to the tradition of those who came before you using whatever it is that you use. (I.E. Tom Blake developing the first hollow balsa paddleboard to surf and workout on in the off-season for waves in California.) I take time to learn as much of the history about surfing, lifeguarding, swimming, etc as I can. It helps you develop a sense of respect for what it is you do, and take pride in doing it.

Respect the Water:
One thing about working with the water, it humbles you. It is also good that it should. When you respect the water you keep in mind the forces of nature, or the will of God or whatever it is that you believe. For this situational awareness is what pops in my head; being aware of what is going on around you at all times. When you forget or become complacent the water will be quick to remind you who is boss. And believe me when I tell you from personal experience, it can seriously injure or kill you when that happens. I've gone out with waves way too big for the board I had (know your equipment, right?) at El Porto in California and I will never forget being dragged underwater along the bottom for what had to be a hundred yards at a time, wallowing in foam and trying to breathe, literally I was fighting for my life. I quickly learned to seriously think about everything I was doing then and on to this day. I was lucky that day and remember it vividly. Be humble. It's that simple. Respecting the water means you come prepared for whatever it is you are doing, getting in shape both physically and mentally (know yourself).

There you have it-the four principles. There is SO much more I could talk about for each of them-eleven years worth of experience. I hope you consider them because they could save your life-they have for me. As I write in this Blog I will probably talk about them a lot, and reiterate them over and over in different ways. They might also work for a lot of other things as well-maybe mountain climbing-I'm sure you have to know all those things before you go risk your life going up and getting into situations on rock faces where all you have to rely on is only yourself or you are responsible to a partner who is with you.