As our group readied for beach games at Quansoo on Wednesday afternoon, my 12-year-old nephew heard a distant voice cry out, “throw me a line.” Casting around, Freddy spotted a swimmer many yards offshore, his right arm gripped around the chest of a white-haired gentleman, his left arm straining to dig through the sea toward shore. A concerned woman at the water’s edge began wading into the spraying surf. Strapped to her back was a red flotation device from one of the rescue poles dotting the beach. Victoria Nessen Kohlasch, my dear friend, ran over and asked if she’d like a stronger swimmer to go out. The older woman handed the rescue device to her, and Victoria plunged into the surf, striking out for the pair of men. My sister Elizabeth Day Churchill grabbed a boogie board. She forged through the rough current and wind as Victoria closed in on the father and his grown son. I readied a call to 911 as onlookers watched the scene. A couple of boys with boards tried to reach the men and had to turn back. Victoria reached the pair of men and passed the red floatie to the exhausted gentleman who had been struggling to escape a riptide with his son’s aid. Elizabeth kicked and pushed through the waves toward the group, knowing the boogie board was vital if any of the swimmers were in distress. Victoria turned back toward land and hauled the gentleman on the tow line. She fought the undertow and dark green swells with freestyle and breaststroke moves. The man’s son and Elizabeth swam alongside until the four of them felt sand under their feet and knew they could stand. Dripping and spent, the father rested at the shoreline as family members of the two men gathered with relief around them. The son told the group: “I knew things were serious when my dad stopped responding to me.”A beachgoer approached Victoria and thanked her, “as a member of the public.” Her five-year-old son had watched in awe from the shore. Victoria attributed her swimming skills to the daily swimming lessons we’d all taken at Owen Park in Vineyard Haven in the late seventies. Both women exercise and stay fit. Both are strong swimmers who rapidly assessed the risks and worked as a good pair in the ocean. Both women also had young children on shore that day. Victoria and Elizabeth plunged right in.

Catha Day-Carlson
Chilmark