Mohammed Ramzan drowned in a rowing accident on the Chicago River on April 10th, 2017. Water temperatures were in the forties. The following account of his death is drawn from the Illinois State Police report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Mohammed Ramzan was a nineteen year old novice rowing with Northwestern University’s club team and at the time of his death had apparently been on the water three or four times before with the team. He was rowing in the two seat on a novice eight and the rowers in the one and three seats both reported he had been having trouble with his seat coming off its track throughout the practice; the rower in the number one seat reported that he had also been struggling to stay in sync.
At the time of the accident the novice boat was trailing behind two coxed varsity fours on the third and final piece of the day when he caught a crab and was ejected. The rower in the three seat reported seeing his head briefly above water with his glasses still intact, but noted that he seemed not to be struggling and could have been unconscious. The rower in the number one seat said that he fell from the right side of the boat and “his head briefly floated out of the water.” One rower reported hearing a gasp.
The cox reported that the coach, who had been staying back with the novice eight, reached in the water trying to save him, and then jumped in after him. Another rower on the novice boat who had lifeguarding experience also jumped after him.
After his body had been recovered the Illinois State Police report noted “an abrasion on the right eye and nose.”
The police report noted that no swim tests were required for members of the rowing team and that several members of the team were aware that Mohammed didn’t know how to swim, but, as one rower put it, she “didn’t think much about it because the boats are stable and people rarely fall overboard.” It also noted that the previous week a rower on the woman’s team had been ejected by a crab and suffered a concussion, and indicated the team’s rowers had widely different opinions of the protocols for accidents and rowers falling overboard.
* * *
These details underscore three fundamental problems with rowing safety guidelines. First, even the most basic safety precautions are often overlooked in the absence of minimum safety requirements or oversight. Second, cold water kills quickly. Third, not wearing a lifejacket can be deadly. USRowing, Rowing Canada Aviron, and BritishRowing all advise there are lifejackets suitable for rowing and BritishRowing’s Safety Alert says “a lifejacket is your most important piece of equipment.”