OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine — Ashleigh Fife knows what it's like to get caught in a riptide.
"I got pulled out in California," she recalled. "My sister actually saved me from it."
Fife was only 6 years old when she had that close call, but she has carried valuable life-saving advice to every beach she's visited.
"I've learned that you have to swim with the current, otherwise you're going to get pushed out to sea," she said.
That's exactly the same advice shared by Old Orchard Beach assistant lifeguard captain Lance Timberlake.
"An Olympic swimmer isn't going to be able to get themselves back in," he explained. "Mother Nature is going to win on that one every single time."
If you get caught, Timberlake said you have two options: Swim parallel to the beach, or "you can let it take you, and eventually it'll spit you out."
Those tips are especially relevant after he and his crew rescued seven children in the past week.
Timberlake said the risk has increased since the winter storms, which shifted a lot of sand, but he said there are ways to spot the danger ahead of time.
"Until that sand moves itself into a different area, those will continue to be an issue," he said. "Any area where it's deep in one spot but next to you there's a sandbar or something like that, those are telltale signs for spots where you could possibly get in trouble."
That knowledge can be invaluable for parents.
"We've got to listen to them for sure," Steve Bizier, a parent to 4-year-olds, said.
Bizier has never experienced a rip current, but he said he's always on the lookout, especially as a parent to a young child.
"You've got to have eyes on them at all times," he said.
No matter what the conditions are, Timberlake said monitoring kids should be the No. 1 priority.
"The beach is an especially dangerous spot, so you want to make sure you're keeping an eye on kids and teaching them about ways to swim safely," Timberlake said.