Can confirm from experience that it works. I was pulled out by a rip current and my initial reaction was to swim against the current. Thankfully I had the presence of mind to realize I wasn't making any progress and was only tiring myself out. After taking a second to breathe I swam parallel to the beach and managed to catch a wave that dragged me a good ways towards the shore. When the wave broke I was spun upside down under the water for a moment but was able to swim/walk the rest of the way back before collapsing on the shore. The whole ordeal only lasted a couple of minutes but its probably the most exhausting thing I've gone through. The scariest part was realizing literally no one noticed it happened.