[caption id="attachment_60191" align="aligncenter" width="634"] anne hathaway rescued from drowning[/caption]Actress Anne Hathaway Escapes Life Threatening Riptide

Oahu, Hawaii - A riptide aka rip current aka undertow is a condition that arises as wind and water force a breech in a surf line along the shore of a beach. As the water accelerates through the breach, the speed of the water flow becomes sufficient to tug on a swimmer or even pull them out to sea. They can appear and disappear at certain points along a beach throughout the day, but can become more acute if the weather turns foul.

This turned out to be the case this past Wednesday for an unsuspecting Anne Hathaway who was enjoying time in the warm waters off Oahu when a rip current opened up pulling her further away from shore. Hathaway was exhausting her strength by trying to fight the riptide.

Thankfully, a nearby surfer was able to come to her aid as she called out for help. Paparazzi on hand took numerous photographs of a panic stricken Hathaway clearly in distress. She was finally able to get out of the grip of the rip current and get treated for minor cuts and scratches.

It is worth noting that the proper response to being caught in a rip tide is to ride it out calmly until it loses strength and then swim to either side of it before returning back to shore.