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Either by accident or design, we and the raft are quite often separable in our float trips. There is a certain amount of exhilaration in this, since, the swimmer is getting the full benefit of the moving water in which the swimmer is immersed floating much lower in the water than the raft. Most of the water slips under the raft, but the body in the river will go rather close to the speed of the river itself--which does not care too much which end is leading in this detached body, nor whether it spins, bounces off rocks or gets caught in "strainers". So, there is a disconcerting feeling as one goes cheerfully past a raft at twice the speed of the raft as the roar of "white water ahead" means that the swimmer will have to take it on his or her "own bottom" rather than the borrowed buoyancy of the "Hopalong" raft.
So, here is a survival lesson, starting first with that "bottom"; "bottoms up!" Never try to stand or get vertical in the moving water, which can then turn you in directions that you would not like to head. Lie back supine in your life vest (which are ALWAYS worn--even near the river to protect you from falls on slippery rocks) and point your tennis shoes downstream (again, an item that is always worn while on the river, if you do not have the rubber river sandals), and flatten out with your Butt Up! Anyone who forgets this will find out that ROCKS are the things that make those riffles and rapids, and the most dependent parts look like keels that need bashing by those rocks.
The arms can trail along behind and steer like the sweep oars of the riverboat. Steering is important to try to keep you mid-river, away from rocks, and, most especially, out of "strainers". The fallen tree branches that hang into a river could catch the floater and hold on while the current pushes down. It is impossible in most instances to fight a big river and win, and one must--of course--"go with the flow". You do not want to be hung up in a strainer when that flow could be carrying you to someplace much safer.
When one enters a chute, a big standing wave may be staring back, with a waterfall literally falling upstream from the collision of two underwater currents. You have discovered the principle of the "Hydraulic". The wave will dunk you, and to get through the hydraulic you must have enough speed to punch through it, otherwise the wave will roll you back up into the current, and play tug of war--the "Ole Maytag". To punch through it, take in a breath when you are at the top, not the trough, of the wave before the "hole" in front of the hydraulic. Do not panic and try to get upright, since that will result in a flip into the Maytag; lie back and wait for the river to carry you through. When it is all over, you will have enjoyed this experience, realizing that you have not "tamed" this wild river, but have used it, taking it for a ride since you went along where it wanted to go.
Now, are you ready? There's lots of white water ahead! The Bio Bio (Chile), The Yukon (Alaska), The Noatok (The Brooks Range), The Colorado (Arizona), The Shotover (New Zealand), the Gunnison (Colorado), The Zambesi (Zimbabwe) and many more American Rivers now protected by the Wild Rivers and Streams Act. Even the upper reaches of the Ganges is a white water torrent, so you can combine holy water and hot running rivers!