New ambassador program hopes to better inform beachgoers
Ambassador program being funded with grant from Wisconsin Sea Grant
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Ambassador program being funded with grant from Wisconsin Sea Grant
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The pandemic drew big crowds to McKinley Beach last summer, and many who visited were unfamiliar with the lake's power.Sadly, four people drowned in the water near McKinley in 2020, and now a new group is hoping to educate beachgoers in the name of safety."We have the long pier becomes a structural rip, it's called. It's the configuration of the beach, it's the configuration of the boulders, that produces a current that sweeps out along the structure and draws people out," said Lloyd Seawright, who trains lifeguards in Shorewood, Wisconsin, and spends lots of time in and around Lake Michigan.He says the structure of McKinley Beach and those dangerous rip currents can spell trouble for swimmers."You're going to be pulled out and then you get into that structural rip -- and it's a very difficult task to get back, and then it's a rescue at that point," Seawright said.According to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, 56 people drowned in Lake Michigan in 2020.Four of those drownings were at McKinley Beach. In 2019, there were 48 drownings lake-wide, and GLSRP didn’t report any at McKinley.Some say the pandemic contributed to an increase in swimmers at the lakefront."Because of the pandemic, they're trying to get out there and utilize some of our natural resources, which is fantastic, but they come with different backgrounds and different levels of swimming competency," said Deidre Peroff, a social scientist with Wisconsin Sea Grant.Peroff and a host of others across the city saw the need for education, so Wisconsin Sea Grant, Milwaukee Community Sailing Center, Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Milwaukee Water Commons and Coastline Services came together to start a beach ambassador program."If we could have educators walking the beaches saying 'Hey, did you see the flags today or do you know what a rip current is?'" said Teresa Coronado, with the Community Sailing Center.Coronado joined Peroff and Seawright to organize the beach ambassador program, which is being funded with a grant from Wisconsin Sea Grant.The beach ambassadors will walk along Bradford and McKinley beaches wearing blue shirts and pushing what looks like an ice cream cart.They’ll talk to beachgoers about everything from rip currents and dehydration to water quality."If it's a bad water quality, red flag means we don't go in the water. Red flag with rough water conditions, meaning rip currents or surf warnings, same thing," Seawright said.Seawright said he often gets questions about the flags posted at beaches, but their meaning is simple"Red no go, yellow at your own risk, green go," Seawright said.These ambassadors are not lifeguards, their goal is to keep everyone on the beach better informed. They'll be on area beaches Thursday-Sunday all summer, starting Memorial Day weekend.