Rich Harley had heart problems and high blood pressure, but at age 59 he was regaining his stroke as a competitive swimmer to get himself back into shape.

But Saturday, the Terra Linda resident suffered an apparent heart attack and died while participating in a race underneath the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.

"He died with his bathing suit on," Harley's wife Evelyn said Sunday after flying back to the Bay Area. "We were thinking about it É 'You lucky guy.'"

Harley, who had been born in Brooklyn, went into cardiac arrest about a quarter of the way into the Brooklyn Bridge Swim, police and a relative said. He died despite a desperate attempt to save him.

Melody Baglione, another race competitor, noticed Harley at 10 a.m. floating unconscious in the East River near the South Street Seaport. She and a kayaker pulled the stricken swimmer up to the boardwalk, and Baglione performed CPR.

Emergency responders worked on Harley for 30 minutes before taking him to NYU Downtown Hospital, where he was declared dead.

At the family home in Terra Linda, Eric Harley and his mother were being consoled by friends and family Sunday.

"You think about your parents and how they gave you life," Eric Harley said. "To go out like that É the lesson is to do what you love to do."

Rich Harley grew up in San Francisco and was a 1967 graduate of Saint Ignatius College Prep. He starred in swimming and continued swimming competitively into his 30s after graduating from City

College of San Francisco and San Francisco State, Evelyn Harley said. In 1980, he became the first to swim from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge to the San Francisco Marina.

On one swim between Angel Island and San Francisco, he was narrowly missed by a cargo ship.

Recently he was swimming 2,000 to 3,000 yards each weekday and usually 5,000 to 6,000 yards on the weekends, Evelyn Harley said. "He had some blockage in his heart," his wife said, "but he always swam through it and did well."

Harley was swimming to raise money for the Daraja Academy in Kenya, which was founded by a former Terra Linda High teacher. One of the Harley's sons, Andy, works at the school. The word daraja means bridge in Swahili, and Harley was swimming the length of the Brooklyn Bridge to bring attention to the girls boarding school about four hours' ride from Nairobi.

Terra Linda High athletic director Steve Farbstein fondly recalled Rich Harley's work as the public address announcer for basketball and football games. Harley continued the role in the five years since his sons had graduated.

"He was a huge contributor to the high school and the community. This is a tremendous loss," Farbstein said. "He was one of the most loyal fans we had. I can only imagine what the family is going through. Our prayers are with them."

"Rich Harley was a sweet, nice, giving, caring man," said neighbor Sandy Boyd. "He always wanted to know what our kids were doing. He was supportive and helped wherever he could. He was a real sweetheart and he will be missed."

Rich Harley, a sales representative for Beronio Lumber in San Francisco, is survived by his wife and three sons, Eric, Mark and Andy. Services are pending, the family said.

Contact Brent Ainsworth via e-mail at bainsworth@marinij.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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