St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington will honor three St. Thomas rowers who helped rescue a man from the Mississippi River last year.

Senior Kyle Smisek, junior Danielle Assie and 2009 graduate Jim Portmann will receive Chief’s Awards Wednesday afternoon. University of Minnesota rower Barry Gustafson will also be honored for involvement in the rescue.

“I’m grateful for the award and I’m glad the crew team was there to support me,” Assie said.

The rowers and their teams were working on a project on the Mississippi River on April 26, 2009, when they heard a man yelling for help from the riverbank. The man and his friend were swept into the river, but his friend was unable to reach safety before being carried downstream.

According to the Star Tribune, Ian W. Talty of Woodbury and Nicholas Breid of Richfield “were exploring and photographing a bluffside tunnel, when they were swept into the river south of the Lake Street-Marshall Avenue Bridge.”

Portmann said he wasn’t sure what to expect when he heard Talty’s and Breid’s call for help.

“We got out on the river as soon as we could to see what we could do,” Portmann said. “We heard a man had fallen into the water so we picked up an officer and started looking for [the man] on the water.”

After about 20 minutes of searching, Talty’s body was found. Assie performed CPR on him and he was then taken to the hospital with a faint pulse. He did not survive.

“We were hoping we could make a difference and help, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” Portmann said. “It was a long couple of days for a few people on the crew team. I wish it would’ve gone the other way.”

Shane Kitzman and Stephani Bloomquist contributed to this report.

Katie Broadwell can be reached at klbroadwell@stthomas.edu.