The ocean-facing beach around the treacherous breach at Norton Point Beach on the Chappaquiddick side was closed to swimmers yesterday following a fatality over the weekend.

The Trustees of Reservations, who manage Norton Point beach for the county and own the adjacent Wasque Reservation on Chappaquiddick, announced the closure, warning summer beach-goers away from the area which is considered extremely dangerous for swimming. The breach is also deceptively enticing, rimmed at low tide on the bay side on its eastern end by a long, shallow sandbar that invites wading.

Michael Romm, 34, of Watertown, waded onto the sandbar on Saturday afternoon before slipping into the rushing currents and being swept out to sea along with a swimming companion, Edgartown police said yesterday.

Mr. Romm went into cardiac arrest and died soon after he was rescued by private boat owners and Edgartown emergency responders at Norton Point.

The call came in a few minutes before 2 p.m. Saturday that two swimmers were in distress at the Norton Point breach. Police, fire, rescue, ambulance and lifeguards all responded to the scene. When they arrived, people in a Boston Whaler had assisted Mr. Romm and his swimming companion, Volha Tsetliakova, also of Watertown, out of the water.

“He was flailing in the water and people pulled him in,” said Sgt. Kenneth Johnson of the Edgartown police. The occupants of the Whaler were not identified by police.

Police said after he was pulled from the water, Mr. Romm went into cardiac arrest; CPR was performed and he was transferred to the town shellfish constable’s boat which had a shallow draft and was able to take him to the town boat landing at Edgartown Bay Road. From there Mr. Romm was transported to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Ms. Tsetliakova was shaken but unharmed, police said.

Sergeant Johnson said Mr. Romm had been staying in a rented house on Chappaquiddick with a large group of friends.

The breach at Norton Point occurred in a severe northeast storm in April 2007, separating Chappaquiddick from Edgartown for the first time in some 30 years. The breach has widened considerably in the past four years and is migrating eastward. It has caused unprecedented change in the natural environment of Katama Bay and has wreaked havoc with tides and currents in the bay and in the Edgartown harbor. It has also become an attraction for curiosity seekers.

The hazardous conditions in the waters around the breach are well known to sailors and watermen, and yesterday police underscored the need for swimmers of all abilities to avoid the area.

On Saturday morning just a few hours before the fatal mishap, Chris Kennedy, Vineyard superintendent of The Trustees, spoke about the treacherous conditions at the breach.

“We really ask people to be very, very cautious about the breach,” he said. “Please urge your friends, neighbors and visitors to exercise care. It’s a very different creature than what you saw last year.”

Mr. Kennedy could not be reached at press time yesterday for comment.

The swimming closure will remain in effect until further notice.