Volusia County Beach Safety has introduced a portable rip current simulator that creates real currents in a pool, giving swimmers hands-on experience to survive one of the ocean’s deadliest hidden threats—a tool that could transform public safety education.
Rip currents are the silent killers of the surf zone, responsible for dozens of deaths each year and countless rescues. Now, a Florida lifeguard agency has deployed an innovative solution: a machine that replicates the powerful, fast-moving water in a controlled pool environment, allowing people to physically learn how to escape.
Volusia County Beach Safety, which oversees more than 30 miles of Atlantic coastline including Daytona Beach, acquired the portable simulator using a $12,750 state grant. The device, developed by swim machine manufacturer Slipstream, uses a turbine to pull water into a chute and push it out just below the surface, creating a wide, powerful current (10–12 feet) that mimics the real phenomenon.
“We decided two units side by side gives you a wide rip current and you practice swimming out of it,” said Alex Miller, deputy chief of Beach Safety. The portability is key—it doesn’t require hardwiring and can be set up in any pool, bringing the training directly to communities, hotels, and local pools.
The Deadly Reality of Rip Currents
Ocean rip currents form when water堆积 on shore rushes back to sea through a channel in the sandy bottom, creating a narrow, fast-moving river of water that can sweep swimmers away from shore in seconds. They are deceptively hard to spot from the beach and kill more people annually than lightning in the United States.
According to statistics provided to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and reported by USA TODAY, rip currents accounted for at least 47 of the 99 surf zone fatalities in the U.S. in 2025. Florida alone saw 15 of those deaths, with two in Volusia County. The previous year, 2024, recorded 59 rip current-related deaths nationwide, including 18 in Florida and three in Volusia County. In a stark example, four people drowned in just 48 hours at Panama City Beach during the summer of 2024.
The currents can persist even when the ocean surface appears calm, often following storms or hurricanes that disturb the sandy bottom. The critical gap in public knowledge, Miller noted, is that many people don’t know how to recognize or escape a rip current—a gap the simulator aims to fill.
A ‘Unique’ and Practical Training Tool
The portable simulator has already drawn praise from national experts. Chris Brewster, National Certification Committee chair for the United States Lifeguard Association, called it “unique” and unlike any tool he’s encountered. “I have not heard of anything like this,” Brewster said, noting its portability allows lessons to be brought to any location.
Brewster, who has partnered with NOAA for 25 years on rip current safety, emphasized the challenge: rip currents are hard for untrained eyes to identify from shore. The simulator’s value lies in letting people physically feel what a rip current is like and then practice the simple, counterintuitive escape technique—swimming parallel to shore, not against the current.
Volusia County plans to partner with local hotels and rental companies to offer the training to visitors, and is working with community pools to host sessions. The training includes a short demonstration followed by hands-on practice in the simulator.
Other Innovations in Rip Current Safety
Volusia’s simulator is part of a broader wave of technological efforts to combat rip current deaths. In 2025, Hofstra University worked with New York Sea Grant and New York State Parks to develop a virtual reality simulation that teaches swimmers to recognize and navigate rip currents, led by associate professor Jase Bernhardt.
Similarly, the Pawleys Island YMCA in South Carolina installed an Endless Pools Fastlane Pro system to demonstrate rip current conditions as part of a “Rip Current Ready” initiative. These tools, alongside Volusia’s hands-on pool machine, represent a growing arsenal of educational aids.
How to Escape a Rip Current: Key Steps
While technology like simulators is emerging, fundamental safety knowledge remains critical. The National Weather Service provides surf zone forecasts and safety resources, and experts recommend these essential steps if caught in a rip current:
- Relax: Rip currents pull you out, not under. Panicking increases risk.
- Swim parallel: Do not fight the current. Swim parallel to the shoreline to escape its pull.
- Float or tread water: If you can’t swim out, conserve energy by floating until the current weakens or help arrives.
- Signal for help: Wave and yell to attract attention from lifeguards or bystanders.
Proactive measures are equally important: always swim at lifeguard-protected beaches, check surf conditions before entering the water, learn to identify rip currents (look for choppy, discolored water or a gap in breaking waves), and ask local officials about safe beaches.
The portable simulator in Volusia County represents a shift from theoretical warnings to experiential learning—using physics to teach survival. As other coastal jurisdictions express interest in acquiring similar devices, this approach could soon become a national standard for rip current education.
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