Did You Know You’re Dodging Maine Ocean Waves All Wrong?

If you live on the East Coast, you've most likely dodged a few waves if you're a swimmer.

I recently realized while swimming in the ocean of my favorite sandy spot, Willard Beach in South Portland, that my best friend Morgan had no idea you were supposed to dodge waves.

This girl looks over at me as we're ducking and bobbing and says (and I can't make this up), "Are you diving under the waves, Krissy?"

OK, I nearly drowned from laughing until I realized she was being serious. That led me to my next question.

Do people who go in the ocean actually not know you're supposed to dive under the waves to avoid them smashing you in the face and taking you for a ride across the ocean floor?

If you're one of those people in the club with Morgan who was shocked today to find that out, here's why you dive:

Waves are caused by energy passing through the water. As you make the motion to dive into the wave, your body produces energy against it.

So, you're actually breaking the wave with your body before ..well.. it breaks you.

According to skateboardershq.com,

"Surfers go under the wave when they feel the wave will break and it isn’t fit for riding. This trick allows the wave to wash over them, which prevents the surfers from being pushed to the beach, back to the impact zone. This trick is also known as duck diving, where surfers sink their boards underwater and duck beneath an incoming breaking wave. "

So do you dive under the waves? Or were you today years old when you learned all about it? Give it a try next time you hit a Maine beach.