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....
And I'm extremely interested in open water swimmer tracking from a fan interaction perspective. This year I did real-time tracking for a swimmer in the Boston Light Swim.
www.meetresults.com/.../
But we had a boat to be on. (In this race, every swimmer has their own escort boat, and we're within 20 feet the entire way.)
Imagine the fan interest in an open water race if you could watch a racecourse map updated in real time with the position of every swimmer.
I think the safety factor is a secondary use of GPS tracking... i.e., the technology isn't going to be good enough to use primarily as a safety tool. For example, had the swimmers in this race had individual GPS tracking, I think the best it would have done would be to locate the body more quickly.
If you don't have an escort boat there, you don't have an escort boat there.
-Rick
And I'm extremely interested in open water swimmer tracking from a fan interaction perspective. This year I did real-time tracking for a swimmer in the Boston Light Swim.
www.meetresults.com/.../
But we had a boat to be on. (In this race, every swimmer has their own escort boat, and we're within 20 feet the entire way.)
Imagine the fan interest in an open water race if you could watch a racecourse map updated in real time with the position of every swimmer.
I think the safety factor is a secondary use of GPS tracking... i.e., the technology isn't going to be good enough to use primarily as a safety tool. For example, had the swimmers in this race had individual GPS tracking, I think the best it would have done would be to locate the body more quickly.
If you don't have an escort boat there, you don't have an escort boat there.
-Rick
