WESTPORT, Conn. (AP) — Rowing club boats capsized during a fast change in weather off Connecticut on Wednesday, sending 27 teenagers and two adults into the cold waters of Long Island Sound, police and fire officials said. Two people were brought to a hospital with suspected hypothermia.
First responders said they came upon a chaotic scene off the coast of Westport shortly after 5 p.m., as some of the people in the water were swimming to shore and others were trying to get into other boats. Police and firefighters from Westport and nearby towns responded, as did the Coast Guard.
Two sculling boats with the private Saugatuck Rowing Club capsized as the water became rough during a weather change, sending 18 people into waters off Compo Beach, Westport Police Chief Foti Koskinas said at an evening news conference. The people in the water tried to get on a third, larger boat, causing it to sink and sending more people into the water, he said.
