Growing up our neighborhood friends had a large above ground pool.
 
Any chance we got, we were swimming.
 
One of our favorite games to play, especially when there was a lot of us, was SHARK.
 
The shark would stand in the middle of the pool. Everyone else would line up on one end, and the object of the game was to make it to the other side without getting tagged. If you were tagged, you became the SHARK. 
 
And if you didn't manage to tag anyone in a flurry of kicking feet and harrowed strokes, you remained the SHARK until you did so.
 
The secret of the game, I learned early on was to never be the first one out. Let the little kids start their dash first, or even the quicker kid... all you had to do was make a break for it when the over zealous SHARK was fixated on another wannabe quick crosser. 
 
Don't be the first one out and you're practically golden.
 
As an adult I tend to errr on the same strategic principle... I once watched a 'first car fresh off a red light' get absolutely pummeled by a red light runner when our light turned green. I've seen people 'first to tread on a questionable surface' wind up down for the count. Then there was that time I watched the 'first guy up on a rope swing' come tumbling down into a river below, branch swing and all...  I said it before and I'll say it again: there's nothing wrong with a little extra scoping out of the proverbial waters before you leap. 
 
As the kids say... first is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the hair on his chest or whatever that last part was. I don't know, I don't make the rules.