Twenty-eight people — 27 teenager rowers and 1 coach — were thrown into the water off Compo Beach late yesterday afternoon, when glass water suddenly turned rough.
But a mass casualty was averted, thanks to the quick and coordinated efforts of first responders from several towns.
Westport Police Chief Foti Koskinas and Deputy Fire Chief Nick Marsan described the dramatic rescues last night, at a police headquarters press conference that drew media from as far as New York.
What Koskinas called “a very serious incident with a very good outcome” began around 5 p.m. A Saugatuck Rowing Club athlete called 911, reporting that boats had capsized and there were people in the water.
Westport Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Service responders raced to Compo. They found a “chaotic” scene, Koskinas said, with a number of young rowers clinging to boats, between the beach and Cockenoe Island. Others were swimming to shore.
The 3 60-foot rowing sculls — with 9 boys, ages 14 to 18, in each — had been swamped when calm weather suddenly turned very windy. Two of them capsized.
Just an hour before the near-tragedy, Alli DiVincenzo took a photo of the Saugatuck Rowing Club boat on calm water.
Some swam to a much smaller launch boat, manned by a coach. Another launch boat soon arrived.
As the young rowers clung to the first launch boat, it too overturned.
The water temperature was 44 degrees. The air temperature was 40.
The Westport Fire Department sent trained dive personnel. Fairfield, Norwalk and Stamford marine units soon arrived to assist. So did the US Coast Guard. There were 8 ambulances on the scene too.
Assistant Fire Chief Matthew Cohen immediately established a command post.
The Fire Department’s inflatable vessel brought 6 victims to shore. The Westport Police Marine boat brought 6 more to Ned Dimes Marina. First responders assisted other victims as they reached the beach on their own.
The chaotic scene yesterday at Compo Beach. (Photo/Larry Hoy)
Emergency personnel initially believed 25 people were involved. The number was raised to 29. Several of the young rowers had reached shore, and gone in to nearby homes to warm up and shower.
Eventually, all were found, and matched with lists of those who had been on the water.
Responders remained at the scene for an extra hour after the last rower was removed from the water at 6 p.m.. They made sure no one was still unaccounted for.
Norwalk Hospital was advised to prepare for a mass casualty event. Ultimately, only 2 young rowers required medical attention there, for hypothermia.
“The weather changed so quickly,” said Weston High School junior Davis Evans, a 4-year Saugatuck Rowing Club athlete.
“The water was glassy. Then it suddenly got windy. Two- to 3-foot swells crashed into the boat. That was really scary.”
Davis Evans describes the dramatic events. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Three hours after the rescue, he said, “it still hasn’t really sunk in yet.”
But, he noted, his fellow rowers remained calm. “I was really impressed by how mature everyone was.” He cited Alex Vogt, the coach on the launch boat that overturned, as “the reason everything worked out okay.”
Westport Public Schools quickly sent a bus to Compo. The rowers warmed up there, then were transported to the Saugatuck Rowing Club to be reunited with families.
“It was an incredible team effort,” Koskinas said. “The most important thing is that all 29 people are safe tonight with their families.”
“As the mother of 3 athletes, I can’t imagine the range of emotions today,” 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker said.
Noting that 2nd Selectwoman Andrea Moore had a daughter who rowed with the Saugatuck Club, Tooker added, “We hope that all the kids and families feel safe, and well taken care of, tonight.”
She thanked “this amazing leadership team. We are so blessed to have such a professional group of Fire, Police and EMS first responders.”
Police Chief Foti Koskinas describes the events, at last night’s press conference. Behind him are (from left) Deputy Police Chief Ryan Paulsson Deputy Fire Chief Nick Marsan, Westport Police Lieutenant Eric Woods, Assistant Fire Chief Matt Cohen, EMS Deputy Director Marc Hartog and EMS’ Rick Baumblatt. (Photo/Dan Woog)
“You can’t really prepare for something like this,” said Evans, the Weston High rower.
“We practice 6 days a week, from 3 to 6 p.m. We were out that far because the water was really nice. There was no sense of bad weather, until it was there.
“You don’t think something like this can happen to you — until it does.”
But, he said, he will be back on the water soon.
“This is my sport.”
Koskinas said that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
(Assistance was provided by the Fairfield Police Marine Division, Stamford Police Marine Division, Norwalk Fire Boat, Norwalk Police Marine Division, Norwalk Fire Marine Division and US Coast Guard. Eight ambulances and 20 personnel were provided by Norwalk Hospital, American Medical Response and Darien EMS.)
Great response. And great lack of common sense. The noaa marine forecast clearly showed an unfavorable forecast and there was an active gale warning when I checked shortly after the incident. Also was everyone wearing life jackets as is now required by law? Methinks the rowing club needs a reality check. I have personally rescued many around cockenoe over the years and my arm chair quarter back view is this way avoidable.
there is a lot of common sense missing in our community and the USA. Thank goodness for great police and fire departments in 06880. I hope everyone is well.
So irresponsible to send that number of young people out with one chase boat!!! Plus check the weather forecast. This could have been avoided! Hope lesson learned
I totally agree with Diane and Joshua, except I’d go one step further. The Rowing Club would be looking for a new leader today because the one who made that decision to let the kids go out would be fired by now!
So grateful this ended the way it did. Thinking about these quick acting, amazing kids and their parents as they process and recover from that.
Excuse me, aren’t fragile rowing shells usually confined to rivers? What were they doing out in open water off Compo Beach, even if it were flat as glass at the time? After the fantastic rescue (kudos to all involved), there’s a lot of explaining to do.
Thank you so much to our Fairfield community emergency responders. Your training and expertise has been exemplary.
I’m so glad that all the commenters here are so much wiser, and so much more prescient, than anybody involved in this affair. By all means, an investigation should be conducted. But really, am I the only one who has noticed that weather can change unexpectedly and abruptly?
I don’t row. I bicycle, and an average ride for me over the last 20 years is about three hours long, apparently similar in duration to these rowers’ daily time on the water. I have been fortunate to live and bicycle for those two decades close to three large-ish bodies of water: Long Island Sound, Lake Ontario, and the Atlantic Ocean. I always check the weather before I start a ride, and dress for the forecast, because I’ve tried hypothermia, and I don’t like it. But I have many times been caught by unexpected weather.
Last Sunday I left the house in sunshine with a forecast for above 40 degrees with sun and part-sun for the entire day, and winds under 5 mph. Less than an hour later the temperature had dropped ten degrees, the sky was darker than twilight, and I was being pelted by sleet in 20+ mph winds. None of that was in the one-hour forecast.
I don’t know what the forecast was when these boats left the dock, and the club should definitely review its decisions and its procedures. But I sure wish that I had the foresight of so many of today’s commenters. Then I could be sure of never getting wet or cold on a ride!
It’s called using data at your finger tips and common sense. This was avoidable. Plain and simple. NOAA marine forecast takes one second to pull up. Did you see the gale warning on all the weather websites? Sure things can change , but that’s why you use data and common sense to evaluate the risk and make an informed decision. Just like it can storm in the afternoons in Florida and you need to keep a lookout on the water. Weather aside. I agree with a poster above that going out to cockenoe is risky on a warm summer day in a tiny craft that is not fit for sea operation. Kayaks, canoes, row boats, etc, should be limited use out that far. I have pulled so many kayakers out of the water from the rental places that have gone overboard or stuck in current / wind / bad conditions. I think this was completely preventable and those poor kids lives were put at risk by someone and they should be held accountable. Also each rower should not go out on the water without wearing a pfd during winter months as the law states. Kids could’ve died yesterday.
Iain, This isn’t out for a little bike ride. These kids shouldn’t have been out in open water in the first place, and the one in charge had the responsibility to check out the weather conditions! As a person who almost drowned twice in the Caribbean, this event will live with these kids for the rest of their lives!
Thanks gents. My argument is not that you are necessarily wrong, it is that you are mighty quick to judge based on incomplete information. You may be right, or partially right, or flat wrong with respect to the specific incident. But either way you’re awfully quick to judge. As my father used to say, the only exercise some people ever get is jumping to conclusions.
Mr Stein’s insistence aside, weather remains less than perfectly predictable, and his original post argued that he saw a gale warning after the event. Well, of course! I don’t think anyone disagrees that the club needs to review its decisions in this instance and its policies generally.
As for “a little bike ride,” my friends, I think, will readily testify that I have no idea what such a thing is. With over 204,000 miles logged since 2004 and an annual average of 14,000 miles for the last seven years, this the rare thing where I actually do know what I’m talking about. Weather on those rides is not always what it is forecast to be. I find that more true on the north shore of Lake Ontario than on the Atlantic coast. I don’t know why. Maybe Canadian forecasters are not as good as their southern neighbours, or as good as Mr Stein. [winking emoji here]
Watch until lawyers get involved. It’s hard to imagine that won’t happen!
So what is the over/under on when the first lawsuit is filed? Or will everything be settled complete with NDAs before it gets to that point? If the latter, I suppose we may never know.
Grateful to all first responders and all who helped. Glad for the positive outcome.
Thank goodness everyone is okay – and great work by the responders. But echoing others, this was completely avoidable. We’d gotten gale warnings all day. Who ultimately decided to ignore them?
Really nice work by the PD,FD and EMS..We’re lucky to have them..
So very grateful for the good outcome.
Thanks so much to all the various services that worked to make this rescue possible. Well done. We all had a collective sign of relief last night when we heard the good news.
Thank you to all first responders for a happy ending to a scary story
I lived on Compo Beach for 18 years and sailed small craft on the sound. Several times squalls came up unexpectedly and returning to the marina was extremely difficult; the risk of capsizing was high. We always wore life vests. I’m really rather shocked that the team risked going out in cold temperatures and 40 degrees waters when gale warnings were in effect. I can only imagine the cost of mounting such a rescue operation and the real risk of loss of life. This near disaster should never happen again.
Thank you, First Responders and support personnel.
Westport is tremendously fortunate to have such professional and highly trained proactive first responders with stellar leadership that remind their mission everyday.
“People first, mission always.” 🇺🇸
That being said, someone made a wrong decision yesterday. There were plenty of physical warnings just by looking outside and at multiple weather apps of unstable weather.
Sunlight with scattered periods of clouds and drizzle with wind. I had plans to launch yesterday at 3:45 and I had warnings with radar showing wind and rain.
Spend enough time on the water and even the best will get caught. My guess is the SRC has thousands of hours on the water with minimal issues. Great job by all involved to help these athletes in a precarious situation.
did any parent question the weather ? speak to the rowing club about threatening weather ?
I grew up in Westport and spent many hours in and on Long Island Sound. I have been out in a large boat, I have been out in small boats, and I have swum at the beaches. I was a Water Safety Instructor and trained many of Westport’s life guards. I used to row single sculls (on the Mississippi River). I have even been in a swamped canoe between Cedar Point and Cokenoe Island during the Great Race. I have also swamped when running rapids on rivers. I have just completed a 40+ year career in Risk Management in the workplace helping people understand and manage the risks associated with what they do for a living.
Simply put, there is no way that an 8 shell or any similar craft should be going down river farther than the entrance to Cedar Point Club (for instance). These boats are not built for open water. With regard to personal flotation devices, it is very difficult to power a shell or scull when wearing one – with the possible exception of “self inflating” pfd’s which require a person to pull a cord.
Yes, it is easy to second guess. Yes, trolling the internet has become an American pastime. And NO, those boats should not have been out there regardless of the weather. That one is a gimme.
Pfd are required by law in Connecticut during winter for small manually propelled vessels . There is no exception for rowers afaik and there should not be. Sucks then if they can’t operate in winter but it is what it is and they’ll have to deal .
You’d push for canceling the Head of the Charles I bet.
Toughen up Joshua, it’s LI Sound, not exactly the open seas.
Chris, Long Island Sound can be extremely dangerous during a storm. These kids could have died. By the way, you post some comments that seem to be sarcastic! Telling Joshua to “ toughen up” is an example!
As someone with thousands of hours boating on Long Island sound and having rescued and saved the lives of many boaters I disagree. I have seen some awful conditions. Wind, current, and tides.
Joshua, I’m glad you out this guy in his place! His comments are a bit odd.
Rowing is a demanding sport… rowers from the Saugatuck Rowers Club have faced challenging conditions for several decades.
My exposure to the practices of the club tells me that coaches of both adult (master) rowers and junior rowers are scrupulous about weather and condition checks for every single practice session.
That one weather call went south is unfortunate, but provides evidence that coaches are competent and prepared… there were life jackets the young rowers used. Emergency measures were successful
One of the most frustrating hazards the young, competitive athletes who bring glory and medals to Westport from national and international competitions is recreational boaters who create at least as many hazardous conditions as do freak weather events.
Not so long ago, recreational boats—ignoring wake limiting buoys—created hazardous conditions that swamped an eight person scull of master rowers jeopardizing the life of at least one rower who couldn’t extricate from a boot.
That commentators ignorant of the scrupulous practices of both the athletes and coaches of the Saugatuck Rowing Club and the demands of the sport on young and older athletes troll this freak situation is, frankly, despicable.
Troll? Despicable? Lol. I have been boating for 29 years on the saugatuck river. I have personally witnessed the rowers many times thinking they own the water. Blocking the navigable channel where boats can’t leave due to shallows. No regard for common decency or Maritime navigation. The powered club boats with the outboards have raced past docks throwing massive wake. Fun story : I was thrown off a dock tears ago into the water because of that by a saugatuck rowing club boat. Maybe there have been improvements I don’t know as my interactions have been limited the past couple years but you blaming the recreational boaters is laughable. also, there were life jackets? Great. Were they on the rowers? There is a reason the law exists that they must be warn, also there is basic cold water knowledge and common sense that supports the law and why that’s important.
Thankfully, everyone is safe and that our great Westport First Responders, and those from neighboring towns, are so talented and brave and speedy. Hopefully, some learning will come from this scary incident.