‘Thanks for Saving My Life:’ Daughter of Cooperstown Rescues Sailor

By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
COOPERSTOWN

Despite the clear early afternoon skies over Otsego Lake on July 22, few sailors were braving the winds and white caps. Among them were Olivia Gotwald and a man known only as Steve, from the Albany area.

This mysterious Steve, a new member of the Otsego Sailing Club, was on a Laser sailboat. The Laser is ultralight, a one-seater designed for racing speed with a sail larger than its hull. In harsh winds, it becomes difficult to control. Meanwhile, Gotwald’s trip was utilitarian. After captaining a voyage on a 17-foot Montauk Boston Whaler from Sam Smith’s Boatyard to the Cooperstown Country Club for lunch, she was now on a trip up to Springfield to see friends.

Gotwald, a 31-year-old Cooperstown native who splits her time between here and Montana, was “having a nice cruise” over the middle of the lake when she saw the sailboat “capsize really hard” about a mile away. The only other boat as far as Gotwald could see was the Glimmerglass Queen, too far away to render immediate assistance.

The Laser “just flipped straight to the water” just south of Kingfisher Tower, Gotwald said. “And I thought, ‘Oh gosh, that’s not good!’”

Gotwald “gunned” her boat over in time to see the Laser right itself, before immediately capsizing a second time. The tiller, used to steer, was broken. Absent help, Steve would be floating with the current of the lake in a life jacket too large for him, without a phone or flare.

Gotwald asked if Steve was okay, and helped him get the sailboat upright and tie it off to her own vessel.

“It wasn’t until I had tied him off that I realized how bad the situation was,” Gotwald said. “He was really out of breath…he, like, was just not doing well.”

The two ferried back to the Otsego Sailing Club safely, before going their separate ways.

Accidents on Otsego Lake are infrequent. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation recorded only one accident on the lake in 2024, which did not cause injuries.

But Gotwald said her actions are “what anyone on our lake would do.”

“We all look out for each other, and we all take care of each other. And you see someone who’s struggling, and you go and offer your help,” Gotwald said.

A couple weeks later, as Gotwald was bartending at Blue Mingo Grill, a familiar face walked in.

“Oh my gosh, are you Olivia?” he asked.

It was Steve.

The two shared a laugh, and Steve said he was still going back out sailing on the lake. When he left, Gotwald found a large tip at the bottom of the receipt, and a scribbled “Thanks For Saving My Life” with a smiley face.