That knowledge alone may not be enough for someone who is not a strong swimmer. |
This so incredibly sad. May he RIP. Prayers to his family. |
Such a classic episode. MJW actually directed it ![]() |
It's counter intuitive to swim parallel. Most people see the beach and want to swim towards the shore especially when you're in full panic mode. Tbh, I'm not even sure if I could swim parallel with all these waves battering at me, the water too deep now and i cant stand, and this current pulling me. I think I'd be gasping for air and trying to stay afloat. |
I had a work colleague that drowned on vacation while with his family—similar situation I think. I think many beaches have had at least one drowning. |
Yeah, I study the signs in North Carolina and make my family watch a rip tide safety PSA video at least once a year before we go to the beach and stick to lifeguarded areas if going in deeper than wading, but still, having never been caught in such I current I have no idea how I would react and what it would feel like. I've heard sometimes you feel pulled under like by your ankles which makes it sound like it could be hard to keep your head up. |
Gosh, people are so judgy. He might have been a great swimmer, he might not have been. But no one is stronger than the ocean and it’s easy to lose sense of direction when things are going crazy. Very sad. |
The Theo gets an earring episode… so great. |
I got caught in a rip tide in Costa Rica years ago. Luckily I was at a beach with calm waves, swam parallel to shore and eventually made it back. But it was exhausting. And one second we were in very shallow water and the next I was very far from shore. The beach he was at is know for more intense waves (favorite surfing beach) even if you do everything right it can still be very hard. Drowning can take as little as 30 seconds.
The ocean is beautiful but can be so scary. This makes me very sad. |
I was an ocean lifeguard for a long time and trust me, most of my victims were competent swimmers who just couldn't think clearly enough in a rip to swim parallel to shore. In fact, once I had them where they could stand they would shake their heads and tell me how they knew they needed to swim sideways but thought they could muscle through the rip. I heard he was swimming on an unguarded beach which there are plenty of in Costa Rica. |
Just recently a tv journalist put himself in a rip tide to show. He also had an expert with him. This expert explained why parallel isn’t always correct/-or if it is, you have to choose the right direction. |
Wow this is such a shock to hear.
I am his age & grew up watching him on The Cosby Show as a teen. It is so tragic that he died from an accidental drowning - - the TMZ article states that another person was found alongside him in critical condition… I wonder if that was his child. God I hope not. Poor guy he will be missed and at 54, he was too young to die. 🕊️🕊️🕊️ |
I wonder if in Costa Rica….do they have lifeguards on the beaches there that they have here in the States?
Regardless this story is very tragic. Theo was a big part of my childhood on TV and he will be missed… |
I got caught in a rip tide in Puerto Rico a few years ago and I completely forgot everything I knew about swimming parallel b/c I was panicking. I'm a fairly competent swimmer and strong in general, but I was zero match for that rip tide, and when I see a story like this it makes me realize how lucky I was. ![]() |
Also, that beach he was at was mostly a surfing beach with huge waves. If you look at the photos on the internet, the surf looks VERY rough. Swimming back in just may not have been possible at that time. |