Tips For Staying Safe While Swimming This Summer

JERSEY SHORE, NJ — If your summer plans involve hanging out at the pool or taking a trip to the beach, safely enjoying your time by the water is critical.

In 2024 alone, four kids have drowned in NJ pools. It's not just children who are at risk either: On June 22, two men drowned in separate incidents in Manchester, both while swimming at sites that are off-limits to the public.

As a critical care specialist with Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore, Dr. Eric Costanzo said that the Center often sees adults and children come in for “life-saving emergency care after breathing in saltwater or nearly drowning.”

In order to stay safe and enjoy the waves, Costanzo has compiled a list of the best practices and safety tips to follow this summer:

• Learn to swim/have you and your children learn to swim through formal lessons
• Swim near a lifeguard
• Always supervise your children whether at the beach or at a pool
• Never swim alone or without a "water-watcher" while swimming in the ocean
• Just like driving a car, never participate in water recreation when under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Be aware of warning signs or flags at the beach; they will make you aware of hazardous conditions that you can avoid
• Protect your neck and spine while swimming
• If caught in a rip current, relax and follow the direction of the current rather than swim against it
• If you can’t escape a rip current, wave your arms to get the attention of nearby lifeguards who can help
• Don’t dive headfirst or jump into unknown water
• Don’t dive toward the bottom of waves, off a pier, jetty or bridge
• If you wipe out in the surf, try to land as flat or parallel to the ground as possible with your arms protecting your head
• If you find someone incapacitated on the beach, don’t try to move them and call 911