Australian Rip Systems – Friend or Foe?

Short, A D, 2006, Australian Rip Systems – Friend or Foe? Journal of Coastal Research, SI 50, (Proceedings of the 9th International Coastal Symposium), 7 – 11, Gold Coast, Australia, ISSN 0749.0208 Since MCKENZIE'S (1956) classic article on rip currents in the Sydney region, rips have been recognised scientifically as an integral and important component of wave-dominated beaches in Australian and globally. Rips received less formal, but more important, recognition more than 50 years earlier, when Australian's began bathing in large numbers in the surf. The immediate result was a number of drowning owing to bathers being caught in rip currents and carried seaward. In the Sydney region where surf bathing was only legally permitted in 1902, the resulting rash of drowning in 1902 and 1903 lead to the formation of the world's first surf life saving clubs in 1903 and Surfing Life Saving Australia in 1907, an organization which now oversees 305 surf life saving clubs. Since 1949 when recordings begun it is estimated the lifesavers have rescued 300 000 people from the surf in New South Wales alone, the vast majority (∼90%) from rip currents. This paper will examine the nature of rip currents, including the four types of rips; their role in surf zone morphodynamics; their nature and distribution around the Australian coast; the hazard they pose to swimmers; and ways we can mitigate this risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]