Water Rescue at Head of the Hooch

There were some tense moments at the Head of the Hooch Rowing competition Saturday morning.

Around 9 am two 9-person boats collided, knocking one of the boats into a buoy and swamping the vessel.

The boat from the Louisville (Ky.) Rowing Club became swamped with water, putting all 9 participants into the river.

The Chattanooga Fire Department fireboat, one of several emergency boats helping monitor the race, immediately responded. The crew of the fireboat, Lieutenant Dusty Rose, Senior Firefighters Dale Aslinger and Tim Waters were able to safely remove the wet boaters from the cold water.

Once on the shore, the boaters were checked by Hamilton County EMS personnel. No injuries were reported from the event.

The boat that became swamped was successfully towed to the shore by Volunteer State Water Rescue.