*Pat Whelan*, the Plainwell district supervisor for the Michigan DNR Parks and Recreation Division, is sounding an alarm for beachgoers this summer. Lake Michigan is drowning almost half of all Great Lakes victims, and safety advocates say lifeguards remain the missing piece at many of the state's most popular beaches.
"Even an Olympic swimmer is not going to swim against the rip current," Whelan said.
The numbers behind the danger
According to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, 81 people drowned in the Great Lakes in 2025. Of those deaths, 36 occurred in Lake Michigan — nearly half the total.
The National Weather Service says the west Michigan coastline along Lake Michigan has the most current-related incidents of all the Great Lakes, including both rescues and fatalities.
What to do when a rip current hits
Whelan says the natural instinct to fight a rip current by swimming back to shore is exactly the wrong move. He recommends a technique he calls "flip, float, and follow."
"It's a term called 'flip, float, and follow,' where you flip on your back so you can breathe," Whelan said. "Follow that, float on the top of that current and follow it out into the lake until you can feel it release you. Then you're going to swim parallel to the shore, and then the waves themselves will help push you back into the shore."
South Haven brings lifeguards back after decades
While state parks eliminated lifeguards in the 1990s due to cost and liability concerns, South Haven welcomed lifeguards back to its beaches for the first time in 25 years this Memorial Day weekend.
Dave Benjamin of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project said he has been pushing for South Haven's lifeguard program since 2012. He was on South Beach Monday morning to watch the first official lifeguard watch.
"We gathered around 10 a.m. so we could meet, kind of impromptu organized, and we waited for the lifeguards to go on duty at 11 a.m. And when they came out — I don't know if they were expecting it or not — but when they came out as a group to take their first watch, they were greeted with applause," Benjamin said.
Benjamin said 12 drownings occurred in South Haven since the city ended its lifeguard program in 2001. He believes 11 of those drownings would have been prevented with lifeguards on duty.
Grand Haven's new warning system
Grand Haven State Park has installed an electronic lighting system on an orange tower. When a life ring on the tower is pulled, Ottawa County dispatch is alerted immediately. Blue towers on the beach are equipped with cameras that provide a video feed of the scene.
Whelan said the system allows beach staff to communicate directly with central dispatch.
"They can push the button and actually talk back and forth with central dispatch," Whelan said.
A mother's plea for more lifeguards
Vicki Cech, whose son Andy Fox, 17, drowned in a rip current at Grand Haven State Park in 2006, said the pain of the loss has kept her away from the beach for more than 20 years.
"When I have company in, sometimes I'll walk out on the pier, but as a rule I just don't go there anymore," Cech said. "Not that beach, because that one does have a lot of sad memories for me."
Cech said she would like to see lifeguards posted at Grand Haven's beaches, similar to what South Haven now offers.
"I know there's all kinds of different things we have down there. Life rings closer to the water and everything like that," Cech said. "But I'd say the only thing which I see South Haven has finally gotten lifeguards, the ultimate would be lifeguards."
The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project continues to advocate for lifeguards at all Michigan state park beaches that charge admission and have indoor plumbing in their restrooms.
"The thing about lifeguards is they are the gold standard of water safety," Benjamin said. "They are already established, commonly accepted water safety best practices."