Full story:
www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../25369.asp
Excerpt:
Passages: Fran Crippen, 26 - FINA, USA Swimming Release Statements -- October 23, 2010
FUJAIRAH, United Arab Emirates, October 23. SHORTLY after the FINA Open Water 10K World Cup swim today in the UAE, United States swimmer Fran Crippen, 26, passed away after falling unconscious during the race.
With the water in the mid-to-high 80s, the competitors all finished and noticed that Crippen had not crossed the finish line. Meet management brought in deep sea divers, who found Crippen unconscious just before the final buoy nearly two hours later. He was transported to the Fujairah Hospital and later died according to information provided to Swimming World. Conflicting reports state that he was found dead on the course.
Crippen had shown signs of slowing down during the third lap of the five-lap race. When Crippen did not immediately finish, a fact noticed by teammate Alex Meyer who screamed for help, the competing swimmers rushed back into the water to help with the search.
Information provided to Swimming World demonstrates that the water was likely too hot for the event as several swimmers were treated for heat exhaustion after the race....
I was thinking about this, too. The technology should be out there now where every competitor could be fitted with a tracking device.
The technology *does* exist. I've been in OW races where they strap a chip to your ankle, and if you like, you can have it periodically send your location to Facebook or whatever. If that can be done, they should have been able to see that one of the chips was no longer moving. :(
And in every OW swim I have done, I have always been in visual distance of one or more boats. There is no excuse for not having more boats.
It's not like we don't know how to run OW swims. They just didn't do it.
I was thinking about this, too. The technology should be out there now where every competitor could be fitted with a tracking device.
The technology *does* exist. I've been in OW races where they strap a chip to your ankle, and if you like, you can have it periodically send your location to Facebook or whatever. If that can be done, they should have been able to see that one of the chips was no longer moving. :(
And in every OW swim I have done, I have always been in visual distance of one or more boats. There is no excuse for not having more boats.
It's not like we don't know how to run OW swims. They just didn't do it.
