Man dies after being pulled from Great Chesapeake Bay Swim

Jun 10, 2014

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A swimmer in distress died Sunday after being pulled from the water during the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim.

Anne Arundel County firefighters and police responded to a medical emergency at 11:15 a.m. in the water between the eastbound and westbound spans of the Bay Bridge, about 2 miles east of Sandy Point State Park. The race started at the park 45 minutes earlier.

The man, identified by Department of Natural Resources Police as Robert Matysek, 58, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., was one of more than 600 swimmers attempting to complete the 4.4-mile swim across the bay to raise money for charity. It was his 20th time participating in the race, said DNR Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson.

Matysek was unresponsive when a county dive team arrived and pulled him from the water.

Emergency personnel began CPR and rushed him to shore by boat. He was in cardiac arrest when he was transported to Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, said Lt. Cliff Kooser, a county fire department spokesman. He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving, Thomson said.