Colin Plumadore of Saranac was rowing a guideboat on the lake about 100 yards from shore Monday morning, and his daughter was rowing a separate guideboat, according to Essex County Coroner Frank Whitelaw. At around 11 a.m., Plumadore went to assist a stand-up paddleboarder who had fallen in the water. Whitelaw said Plumadore apparently exerted himself, slumped over and fell into the water.

Apparently there was a life jacket in the boat, but Plumadore was not wearing it, according to Whitelaw. The state Department of Environmental Conservation requires every boat to have a personal flotation device readily available for each passenger, but they don’t need to wear them.

People brought him out of the water and pulled him to shore in the vicinity of 480 Mirror Lake Drive. There Plumadore had no pulse or respiratory activity, and people performed CPR. A 911 call came into emergency services at 11:05 a.m. Members of the Lake Placid Volunteer Ambulance Service arrived and performed life-saving measures, to no avail.

Whitelaw said an autopsy will most likely be performed today.

“The question now is whether he drowned or if this was strictly a medical event before he hit the water,” Whitelaw said.

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(Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article said Plumadore was 55 years old. The incorrect age was provided by the coroner.)

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