Swimming At Your Own Risk

Call it ironic, a coincidence or maybe a strange premonition but yesterday we ran a news story about those who swim in the ocean at this time of year even though there are no lifeguards on duty and signs warn them to stay out of the water. Well at basically the same time that story was on the air a 27-year old man was being pulled out of the ocean after drowning near the Casino Pier in Seaside Heights.

Over the past couple of weeks there have been several rescues on Ocean County beaches without working lifeguards and in all of those cases lives were saved…unfortunately that was not the case Wednesday. The unidentified man, who was with other friends at the time, got caught in a rip-tide even though he was only in waist-deep water. Eventually he was pulled under the pier and by the time emergency personnel got to him it was too late.

This will once again raise a question that does not have a simple answer. Since we know people are going to ignore signs like “swim at your own risk” and even ones alerting them to dangerous conditions do towns have a greater responsibility? We talk about how September is often the nicest month of the year as the water is warm and like the last few days the weather makes for great beach days. Should towns like Seaside Heights, knowing there will be plenty of beach-goers, find a way to have lifeguards on duty? There are two problems with one being the cost and the other being finding lifeguards to work. Most are students back in school or teachers and others back to work. Plus you could never protect all the beaches and forcing swimmers to just use a couple of blocks to swim won’t work. As we heard in the news story yesterday people will always take risks plus when it comes to swimming many think they are good at it when in truth the best they can do is float in a pool. As we also know even adequate and good swimmers are no match for ocean rip-tides and yesterday a young man learned that lesson…the hard way.

However my good friend Joe Gomulka, the captain of the Seaside Park Patrol brought up a good point last night when we talked. He said swimmers ignore you when you tell them that conditions are rough and dangerous but if anyone mentions the work “shark” they bolt out of the water. Gomulka says maybe after Labor Day they should post signs that read “shark-infested waters.” Not a bad idea but don’t let the mayor of Amity Island see them.

PS- That was the fictional town in the movie “Jaws.”