I tried to swim across the Mississippi when I was like 19 in my clothes and shoes while drunk on a dare.
I didn't make it very far till I realized that I wouldn't be able to make it back to shore.
By the time I was barefoot and down to my underwear I was carried a quarter mile down the river and was swept out to the center.
The Mighty Miss has a channel at the bottom in the center and it is a river unto itself… and it flows faster… if you go down far enough the undertow will suck you down into the channel. Massive Catfish down there that just sit in the channel and eat shit that flows to them… Channel Cats.