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....
Someone, can't remember who, managed to get GPS tracks of his open water swim, only by placing his GPS watch under his cap. At times when he was underwater or behind a sea wall, the signal was lost. I think it would be difficult to have such a device on every OW swimmer.
SwimStud's spotter idea is probably the best answer. Anything else would just raise the price of the race.
And I don't think it was his suit. I read the latest from FINA, and still for men, as I understand it, only below the navel and above the knees is legal. And even the full suits for women must be of natural materials. This issue just was raised in Cyprus with a Ukrainian swimmer. The organizers didn't want to let her race because, in their words, her suit was below her knees. Her coach managed to point out to the organizers that her particular suit (Diana something) was of natural materials AND was on FINA's approved list.
Someone, can't remember who, managed to get GPS tracks of his open water swim, only by placing his GPS watch under his cap. At times when he was underwater or behind a sea wall, the signal was lost. I think it would be difficult to have such a device on every OW swimmer.
SwimStud's spotter idea is probably the best answer. Anything else would just raise the price of the race.
And I don't think it was his suit. I read the latest from FINA, and still for men, as I understand it, only below the navel and above the knees is legal. And even the full suits for women must be of natural materials. This issue just was raised in Cyprus with a Ukrainian swimmer. The organizers didn't want to let her race because, in their words, her suit was below her knees. Her coach managed to point out to the organizers that her particular suit (Diana something) was of natural materials AND was on FINA's approved list.
