I was seven years old the first time I got caught in a rip.
It was a blistering summer's day at Main Beach, Surfer's Paradise. My brother would bodyboard just outside the flagged area while I swam between the flags. Although we promised Mum we'd keep an eye on each other, once we were in the water, we went our separate ways.
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How to swim out of a rip
Don't panic if you're caught in a rip - Surf Lifesaving NSW gives guidelines on what to do instead.
I didn't realise I was caught in a powerful rip until it had pulled me down the beach past the flagged area. I dived under a huge wave, feeling rising horror as it sucked me back over the falls, into the dark clutches of a proper dumping. I was held under for an impossibly long time.
It's hard to explain how I was in the water for so long without being helped.
On the beach, Mum had initiated a panicked search, but she and the lifeguards were looking in the wrong place. Between the big surf and the crowds, I was lost in the hubbub of a typical day at the beach. It was 20 minutes before help came. My brother arrived moments before the lifesaver, helping me onto his bodyboard and calming me down.
Within weeks the episode was just one of many memories of a summer spent at the beach.
Last week, I entered the rip at Tamarama of my own volition, under the watchful eyes of Surf Life Saving NSW to make a video demonstrating how to swim out of a rip.
Australian Lifesaving Academy trainer Stuart Massey pointed the rip out to us hours earlier.
"It's common to see rips where there's a water outlet on the beach," he said. Water outlets carve a deep channel in the sand, and "rips go for deep water".
Rips also create deep water. The constant current scours a groove in the sand, making a channel that is often obvious by darker water, and a lack of breaking waves. But rips can be hard to spot from water level.
Earlier, standing on the headland overlooking the rip, it was obvious, but as I entered the water, a consistent shore break hid the deeper, darker water from view.
The current wasn't immediately noticeable, but once I had dived through the shore break, I turned around and was surprised at how quickly I'd been pulled away from the beach.
The surf was calm, of a completely different character to that day on the Gold Coast.
Lifesaving manager Andy Kent gave clear pointers on what to do.
"Don't panic," he said repeatedly. "Rips don't kill people, panic kills people."
He reminded me that a rip could move three times faster than an Olympic swimmer, so it was pointless to try to swim directly against the current.
"Once you're in a rip, you're going to be in the water for a while, so, if you panic, you'll just waste your energy. You must remain calm."
Once I'd gone far enough for the purposes of the demonstration, I began swimming parallel to the beach, as instructed.
It was a long swim, and the chop made it much more tiring than swimming a lap of a pool.
After about 50 metres, I switched to breast-stroke to conserve energy.
Lifesaving officer Michael Tuck kept an eye on me from a kneeboard nearby.
"The best place to swim back into shore is where lots of waves are breaking," Andy advised.
"You can use the waves to help you in."
By then, I was too tired to catch a ride properly, but I took Andy's advice and let the waves push me landward, rather than ducking under them.
When I felt the sand beneath my feet, I was a bit wobbly on my legs.
The whole process had taken only a few minutes, but I was surprisingly tired by the effort.
I joked with Michael that my regular runs hadn't helped much with my swimming fitness.
"Yeah, they're totally different kinds of fitness," he acknowledged. "Unless you're used to swimming in the surf, getting out of a rip is a big effort."
And that is why everyone here is so passionate about swimming between the flags.
"We don't just put the flags up in random places," Andy said.
"The lifeguards and lifesavers have assessed the conditions and, if you're between the flags, they're watching you, looking out for you. The safest thing, by far, is to swim between the red and yellow flags."
How to spot a rip
Rips are easier to see from a higher vantage point. Some or all of these signs might be present:
Darker, deeper water.
Criss-crossing waves or ripples.
Areas of calm water, or water where fewer waves are breaking.
Noticeably discoloured or churning water.
Rip myths
Myth: Rips suck you under water.
Fact: Rips move water from the shore out behind the breaking waves. They don't move water from the surface down to deeper water.
Myth: Rips can carry you out to sea.
Fact: Rips get weaker the further out they go. They usually dissipate completely just beyond the breaking surf zone.
Myth: If you swim between the flags, you don't have to worry about rips.
Fact: Everyone entering the surf should understand what to do if caught in a rip. Lifeguards and lifesavers will set up flags in the safest part of the beach, but there may still be strong currents in this area.
Different kinds of rips
Rips are broadly classified as feeder rips, main rips and circulating rips.
Feeder rips
Feeder rips run parallel to the beach. They move water away from the breakers and towards the deeper channels where main rips are found.
Main rips
Main rips run perpendicular to the shore. They often occur in deeper channels of water. They are "fed" by feeder rips, and dissipate behind the breaking waves.
Circulating rips
Circulating rips form in the surf zone, and circulate water among the breaking waves.