A man drowned in the Charles River near Soldiers Field yesterday morning after avoiding the attempts of two Cambridge police officers to rescue him.

Police said the officers, Sgt. Patrick Corcoran and Patrolman William Coughlin, threw a rope to the man but he swam away from it. The two officers then entered the water and pulled the man out, but were unable to revive him. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Mt. Auburn Hospital.

The man carried no identification, police said, They describe him as well-dressed and in his middle 50's.