Surfer Rescues 3 From Rip Currents Off Northern Michigan Beach

LELAND, MI — Three people caught in the turbulent waters of Lake Michigan were rescued Wednesday afternoon thanks to a quick-thinking surfer on vacation.

Matthew Lipinski, a certified nurse anesthetist from Chicago, noticed two people struggling with a rip current when he showed up at Van's Beach in Leland, Michigan, according to Dave Benjamin, executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project.

Benjamin said in a news releasethat Lipinski told him he went into the water with a life ring to help the two struggling swimmers.

“Another guy swam out and it became too much for him, so I got him to float on his back holding the ring while I tried to kick the three of us out of the current," Lipinski said, according to Benjamin. "People closer in swam out, got the line and helped pull us in.”

“So many remarkable things he did here,” Benjamin said. “He’s a surfer on vacation and recognized and warned several people in the water near a rip current channel, and then recognized others struggling in another rip current.”

Lipinski, also a professional scuba diver, "entered the water with a flotation device, the life ring, and was able to keep 4 people afloat long enough for additional help to pull them ashore,” Benjamin added.

Dan Besson, Leland's fire and rescue chief, told the Leelanau Enterprise everyone had already made it out of the water when medics arrived at Van's Beach.

"The people who were rescued were smart enough to float and wait and signal instead of swimming against the current," Besson said. "No one can swim that fast, and swimming against the current is effectively drowning since you will eventually run out of energy."