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....
Sad news.
Unfortunately, it sometimes takes incidents like this to prompt proper security measures. This has to be especially scary for parents who regularly have kids racing in open water events.
This is a very sad tragedy. I read this in our local Sunday paper. They had a nice writeup in the Sports section, since he attended the University of Virginia.
What I don't understand is how no one noticed he wasn't with the other swimmers. I am not an experienced open-water swimmer, so maybe some others who are more familiar could help me.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
When I did the Marathons we had a boat with each swimmer. There was only one marathon race I was in, a ten miler that did not have a boat assigned to each swimmer. I did not like that race.
They must protect the swimmers!!! FINA should be reprimanded as well as the race organizers.
IMO, we see marathoners and triathletes actually bring themselves to collapse when the legs give out. If you do this in swimming you could slip under quite rapidly. If air is expelled, you sink like a rock. If you think you are being closely watched, you may not break stroke even while swimming in distress, then you won't have the energy to signal and then all of a sudden, you're under.
What I don't understand is how no one noticed he wasn't with the other swimmers. I am not an experienced open-water swimmer, so maybe some others who are more familiar could help me.
As Kirk and George pointed out, the other swimmers may not even have noticed whether or not he was with the pack while they were racing. These guys do all know one another, and they know who to expect where, but they have their heads down and they are focusing on their own work while they are racing. In my own races, sometimes I know who is right next to me or ahead of me and sometimes I don't, and I never know who is behind me or what they are doing back there.
Even if the other competitors knew he had fallen behind, they probably would not have had any reason to know he was in serious danger as opposed to just having an off day. People observing from the feeding station, or from the safety craft if they had had any, should have been able to tell the difference between going slower than usual and struggling, however. And it shouldn't have taken the other swimmers to notice at the finish, "hey, if I'm here already, where is Fran?" It's just appalling.
I have a hard time putting any blame on the other swimmers. Who knows what they even saw? Perhaps Fran looked tired out there, but looking tired isn't reason enough for the other swimmers to interfere. I'm guessing by the time it was obvious that Fran was clearly in distress all the other swimmers had passed him by. However, this is exactly the kind of thing the safety personnel at the event should be looking for and it's a real shame they did not.
please don't interpret my previous comment as trying to assign blame to the other swimmers. i was merely trying to point out that Fran Crippin has exhibited sportsmanship above and beyond the norm for any sport. from the daily news of OW swimming":
But his presence was also felt and demonstrated in other ways. Jack Roach, National Junior Team Head Coach, said, "Even beyond his athletic performance, Fran did one of the most unselfish acts of sportsmanship I have ever seen. In the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships during the race, Fran slowed down and purposefully went over to help his teammate who was ill. He wanted to give him some encouragement because he knew he was not feeling well."
