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On June 17, a triathlete was rushed to Norwalk Hospital during the Sherwood Island Sprint Triathlon. The man, 62-year-old Robert Hartline of Wallingford, suffered an apparent heart attack during the swim phase of the race and had to be pulled from the water by lifeguards. He died the next day in the hospital.
Hartline was conscious when he grabbed onto a kayak with about 100 yards remaining during the half-mile swim, the first event in the triathlon, according to lifeguards, but he lost consciousness on the way into shore. Emergency personnel tried to revive Hartline on the beach before he was taken away in an ambulance.
Hartline, according to his obituary, was a U.S. Navy veteran of the Vietnam War and was an accomplished runner, having competed in the Boston Marathon in the 1980s. He is survived by his wife, Patricia, his mother, Dorothy, and two sons.
Hartline was competing in the event as a member of the Wilton-based Team in Training.
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