Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Swimming parallel to the shore is wrong

Milton and Michael do every thing the Willis Way.
Milton and Michael do every thing the Willis Way.

When the Willis brothers, Michael and Milton, show up on San Diego’s beaches, other surfers know who they are.

The 59-year old twins have embodied the surfing lifestyle. By age 12, they were shaping boards out of their Solana Beach home. What followed was a life as big-wave riders, travelers, musicians, authors, surf instructors, avocado farmers, and ocean safety experts.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Ten years ago, the brothers started a campaign to change the way lifeguards teach how to get out of a rip current. They say the current standard instruction causes unneeded drownings; they claim that several North County drownings in the past few years may have been prevented by using their “Willis Way.”

Michael points out the danger in the currently taught guideline: swimming parallel to the shore is wrong. What most casual surfers and swimmers don’t understand is there could be other flash or finger (sideway) rip currents nearby. Someone in rip trouble could find a situation made worse.

“Which way do you swim?” quizzes Michael. “Incoming whitewater waves is nature’s escalator of energy marching into the shore. Rips are nature’s energy returning to the sea, said Milton. Once in the waves, which always move into shore, one is safely out of a rip. “That’s what should be taught: swim towards the waves,” says Milton. “It doesn’t matter which way you swim, as long as you are swimming towards waves.”

The brothers spend much of their time now trying to teach the Willis Way and lobbying for a change in national policy. They recently ran a full-page ad in Ocean Magazine, funded by those who support their cause.

But they have met resistance. Years ago, a local lifeguard agency demanded the Willises remove their rip-current ideas from their website.

The Willises declined, demanding the agency prove their instruction to be harmful. The Willises never heard from the agency again.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Crimes against San Diego pets

Kensington, Little Italy, Ocean Beach, City Heights, Tijuana, Prescott, Arizona
Next Article

Frank Barish will keep running for president until he wins or dies

He believes in the American way, even if America has lost her way
Milton and Michael do every thing the Willis Way.
Milton and Michael do every thing the Willis Way.

When the Willis brothers, Michael and Milton, show up on San Diego’s beaches, other surfers know who they are.

The 59-year old twins have embodied the surfing lifestyle. By age 12, they were shaping boards out of their Solana Beach home. What followed was a life as big-wave riders, travelers, musicians, authors, surf instructors, avocado farmers, and ocean safety experts.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Ten years ago, the brothers started a campaign to change the way lifeguards teach how to get out of a rip current. They say the current standard instruction causes unneeded drownings; they claim that several North County drownings in the past few years may have been prevented by using their “Willis Way.”

Michael points out the danger in the currently taught guideline: swimming parallel to the shore is wrong. What most casual surfers and swimmers don’t understand is there could be other flash or finger (sideway) rip currents nearby. Someone in rip trouble could find a situation made worse.

“Which way do you swim?” quizzes Michael. “Incoming whitewater waves is nature’s escalator of energy marching into the shore. Rips are nature’s energy returning to the sea, said Milton. Once in the waves, which always move into shore, one is safely out of a rip. “That’s what should be taught: swim towards the waves,” says Milton. “It doesn’t matter which way you swim, as long as you are swimming towards waves.”

The brothers spend much of their time now trying to teach the Willis Way and lobbying for a change in national policy. They recently ran a full-page ad in Ocean Magazine, funded by those who support their cause.

But they have met resistance. Years ago, a local lifeguard agency demanded the Willises remove their rip-current ideas from their website.

The Willises declined, demanding the agency prove their instruction to be harmful. The Willises never heard from the agency again.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Economical freezer-filling rockfish trips

Long-range season begins with a bang
Next Article

Santa Ana winds can bring warmer temperatures to the coast, Beaver moon rises on Friday

High cirrus clouds can lead to pretty sunsets
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader