Police identify woman who drowned at the Oceanfront Friday

VIRGINIA BEACH

Police released today the identity of the 33-year-old woman who drowned at the Oceanfront Friday.

Sujana Umesh, of Ashburn, Va., was swimming with her family near 36th Street when a rip current pulled them away from shore just after 8 p.m., officials said.

Lifeguards and people on the beach went into the water to help pull them out and began rescuing people, but were unable to get to Umesh in time, said Officer Adam Bernstein, a Police Department spokesman.

“They knew she was in the water but could not get to her,” he said.

Rip currents are narrow, fast-moving channels of water that flow from the surf to deeper water. Sandbars break down after several days of large waves. Water funnels through them, creating the powerful currents.

Swimmers who are caught in a rip current should swim parallel to the shore until out of the current. People who fight the current by swimming toward the beach can overexert and panic.

A Maryland man drowned at the Oceanfront in May after a rip current pulled him away from shore. Twenty-four people have drowned at the Oceanfront since 1998.

Pilot writer Kathy Adams contributed to this report.

Patrick Wilson, (757) 446-2957, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com