Ms Giles, who is retired and has swum most days in Budleigh Salterton for the last six years, visited the beach at about 08:30 on Thursday, ahead of the annual swim, but decided not to go in due to the conditions and information from the Windy App.
“The waves were breaking at 10ft (about 3m) plus… you had two or three waves coming in all together,” she said.
“They were frightening and was washing quite far up the beach.
“I watched one person who was kneeling in the damp patch and the next thing he’s having to jump up and run back because there’s a wave sweeping around his feet.
“That backwash is just as dangerous.
“There was a lot of people put in danger that day who I don’t think should have been,” she added.
