The scene on Long Island Sound in Westport was chaotic Wednesday evening after rowing sculls with high schoolers aboard overturned.
Three sculls carried nine rowers, from 14-18, while a chase craft had two coaches, CBS New York reported.
As the rowers reached Cockenoe Island, the weather conditions suddenly changed. So, they tried to head back to the club.
But the boats filled with the students capsized. dumping them into the water that was about 44 degrees. Some of them swam to the chase boat and started hanging on the side. But, their weight caused it to sink.
"We had dispatch reports that were coming from 911 calls from the actual incident on the water. So the first calls were actually from someone reported that they were in a capsized boat and in the water," Westport Deputy Fire Chief Nicholas Marsan said.
Westport Police Chief Foti Koskinas described the scene during a press conference: "Responding units found a chaotic scene of youths swimming to shore. Some of them were arriving by boat. Some were swimming. Some were still in the water between Compo Beach and Cockenoe Island. First responders immediately began providing care to those individuals who were on shore and coordinating the recovery of people in the water."
Two students were transported to the hospital for treatment of hypothermia while others were treated at the scene by EMS crews from a number of departments.
