Stevie Smith, a British poet, wrote the poem "Not Waving but Drowning." It was released in 1957 as part of a collection with the same name. The most renowned of Smith's poems, it tells the story of a drowning man whose panicked thrashing in the water was misinterpreted as waving. Smith himself claimed that the poem was written about an actress named Merle Oberon. Smith wrote several more poems in this series, all of which were published under the pseudonym "Nurse." Waveriders experience a moment of panic when they realize their predicament. However, they do not wave at anyone to try and get help, but instead fight against the current using everything they can find (such as flotation devices) to try and survive. The drowning person in "Not Waving but Drowning" uses his or her arms to make swimming movements under the water. This is called "arm waving." When someone is drowning they may use their arms in the same way as the poet in order to get help. But actually waving at someone who is far away doesn't always work- for example, if the person you're waving at is a swimmer themselves then they might be able to reach you even though you aren't using your arms! People who are drowning cannot use their arms in order to get help because they are unable to communicate due to being unconscious or dead.