How I Almost (But Didn't) Drown Last Tuesday

So last week i went on vacation with my family, & on Tuesday i'm pretty sure i came very close to drowning. I am not an experienced swimmer (i learned late in life, & still freak out when my feet can't touch a bottom if necessary), but i went out for the second time that day, & found myself in this situation. Thankfully i said something before this group of people went to the shore, & thankfully this guy who i'd never met before helped me.

Seriously: don't go back in the ocean if you're even a little tired (which is what i did). And if you're an inexperienced swimmer, either go out with someone else who is, or be really aware of where you are & what the current may be doing. I think that i got so wrapped up in wave jumping that i didn't notice that i had been carried a little further out & north-- not too far out, but far out enough that i couldn't touch bottom. And i also wore myself out even more than i already was by swimming, both before this happened & when i realized that things weren't feeling 100% okay anymore. I stayed calm, but i wonder if any panic found its way out in my swimming, because i got tired very quickly. My legs felt like they didn't want to move anymore, & i got very winded. Which leads me to the next point: know that you can wave for a lifeguard's help. I didn't know this; i thought i would have to yell, which i couldn't do because i was winded. If i hadn't spoken up, & if i hadn't been heard, & if this guy didn't help me, i would either be drowned, or there would have been a big scene made that day on the beach.

The day after this was a bad day for swimming, so i didn't go in. On Thursday, after standing for way too long on the shore, getting mad at myself, i got back in. Twice.