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Ocean City man aids swimmers caught in riptide off Nantucket

An Ocean City man came to the rescue of a father and daughter who were caught in a riptide off the coast of Massachusetts, The Boston Globe reports.

The family was swimming off Nantucket earlier this week when they became caught in the turbulent waves and were unable to swim to shore.

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The two used a selfie stick to aid their struggle, but it was 55-year-old Tommy Vach, according to The Boston Globe, who went in the water to help along with lifeguards.

The Globe reported that Vach said getting involved was "a no-brainer."

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The daughter, who happened to be recording the outing using a GoPro camera, captured much of the struggle on video.

Last year, Ocean City was plagued by rip currents along the Maryland coast, leading to the drowning a teenager and several near-drownings.

The United States Lifesaving Association (USLA) explains that a rip current can be identified by either "a channel of churning, choppy water, an area having a notable difference in water color, a line of foam, seaweed, or debris moving steadily seaward or a break in the incoming wave pattern."

The nonprofit group of lifeguards and open water rescuers advise beachgoers to never swim alone and, if caught in a rip current, to not fight against it, but rather to swim out of the current in a direction parallel to the shoreline.

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