911 call released: 29 people rescued after high school rowing team capsizes in Westport

By Web staff

Click here for updates on this story

    WESTPORT, Connecticut (WFSB) — Twenty-nine people were rescued after a boat capsized in Westport on Wednesday evening, according to the Coast Guard.

The team of rowers, ages 14-18, were making their way from Saugatuck Rowing Club to Cockeone Island.

Thursday morning, Westport police released an update that said one of the capsized rowing scrulls had yet to be recovered and remained missing. Two others were brought into the Compo Marina on Wednesday night.

A chase boat was located, but remained submerged near Cockeone Island. It was expected to be recovered Thursday afternoon.

Two rowers who were transported to Norwalk Hospital for cold exposure were released from the hospital.

“The total number of rowers/coaches involved in this incident stands at 29,” Westport police said. “We have determined that 19 people were in the water and 10 (nine rowers and one coach) were able to remain in their vessels.”

Investigators said they will focus on any weather advisories that were posted, available life jackets, experience of the rowers and coaches, and suitability of the vessels.

Police, Westport fire, and Westport EMS were informed that numerous people were in the water at 5:04 p.m. after the boat capsized at Compo Beach.

Deputy Fire Chief Nick Marsan says that the call came from one of the teens, who was splashing in the water.

“That’s a testament to the young man to be able to have the wherewithal to reach for a phone in that type of conditions and actually make a call that made sense,” he said.

Police said they arrived to find a chaotic scene. Some kids had swam to shore, some arrived by boat, and some were still in the water.

At the time, the air temperature was approximately 40 degrees, and the water temperature was 44 degrees.

Officials said they immediately began providing care to those who had made it to shore while they worked to coordinate a recovery for the others still in the water.

“They kept their cool, they kept their calm that certainly helped. Another 20 -30 minutes in the water and we could’ve had a very significantly different outcome,” continued Marsan.

Two adults and 27 high schoolers were rescued, the Coast Guard said.

Officials said the last person was pulled from the water at 6:15 p.m.

“Things could have gone very differently tonight and they didn’t because we have an excellent, excellent police department, fire department, and EMS department here in Westport,” said Jennifer Tooker, first selectman, Westport. ” I can’t thank all of you enough.”

Two people were transported to a local hospital for treatment for hypothermia, according to police.

They have now been released from care.

Police described how the incident came about in a statement:

At this time the initial investigation indicates that three (3) rowing sculls and one (1) chase boat launched from Saugatuck Rowing Club. Each rowing scull is 60 feet long and held nine (9) rowers ranging in age from 14-18 while the chase boat was operated by their coach. When the boats reached the area of Cockenoe Island, the weather began to change, and the rowers attempted to return to the rowing club. The rowing sculls began to take on water causing two of them to capsize throwing 18 people into the water. These individuals swam to the chase boat and began to hang onto the side of that boat which caused the chase boat to sink as well. Another chase boat from the rowing club arrived on scene and began to shuttle people to Compo Beach Marina.

Foti Koskinas, Chief of Police, Westport

The boat came from the Saugatuck Rowing Company in Westport, according to the Coast Guard.

One of the teenage boys rescued from the water said they don’t normally row that far out.

Davis Evans was one of the teens in the water. He said the team practices six days a week and they typically don’t row as far as Cockenoe Island.

When they first started, Evans said it was beautiful conditions for rowing.

When tried to come back, however, the weather took a turn. Swells started crashing into their boat.

“It was really clean. And really, right as we spun, it got windy. The waves were just crashing into our boat and it was filling up with water. So it was really scary,” Evans said. “This is the first time something like this has happened to me. It’s just a scary experience because you don’t think it can happen to you until it does.”

All of the teenagers were reunited with their families at the Saugatuck Rowing Center.

Multiple agencies and Emergency Medical Response helped, including:

Fairfield Police Marine Division Stamford Police Marine Division Noroton Fire Boat Norwalk Police Marine Division Norwalk Fire Marine Division US Coast Guard Norwalk Hospital American Medical Response (AMR) Darien EMS The Westport Board of Education also assisted by providing a school bus to help transport the people involved.

“This was truly a team effort,” Koskinas stated. “We are grateful for our surrounding agencies who assisted us with this incident and remind our communities that when a large-scale event, like this, happens we all show up to help.

The investigation now turns to the decision making process that put the teens’ lives in uncertain waters.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.