I was crossing a river years ago and had on the old rubber waders and no felt soles.. Got to deep to make it across and down I went. I tried to swim to shore but couldn't, with the wading belt around me it made it almost impossible to get my feet down to the bottom.
Now, what I did I feel it saved me from drowning, I used my rod as a push pole, put the butt end into the gravel, and pushed myself right on the next gravel bar. It worked for me...fp