Death of swimming star Fran Crippen raises safety issues

The death of swimming star Fran Crippen over the weekend raised questions of safety for athletes participating in competitive events.  Fran Crippen, 26-years old, a native of the Conshohocken area, who attended Germantown Academy and the University of Virginia, passed away while competing in the FINA 10-km open water world cup swim in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.  Reports say that he was not feeling well during the race.  Upon seeing that Fran did not finish, fellow swimmers rushed into the water to look for him. Ultimately, deep-sea divers found him 2km from the finish.  Crippen was training to reach his childhood goal of qualifying and swimming in the 2012 Olympics.

The safety protocol at the race is under fire. Swimmers, not race officials were the first to notice that Crippen had not finished.  Swimmers were the ones who went back into the water to look for their friend.  The race conditions were not ideal: the water temperature was reported to be in the mid to high 80s, which is not comfortable for competitive swimming; On top of this, the outside temperature was near 100 degrees.  A video discussing the heat and water temperature can be found here.  The winner of the race spoke out saying that the race should not have taken place under the conditions. Another American swimmer, Christine Jennings, sought medical attention when she became dizzy but was not attended to and ended up swimming to shore on her own.  Where were the lifeguards and safety boats?  How could a swimmer have gone down without anyone noticing?  An Olympic hopeful drowned? This is a disgrace.

FINA, the international governing body of swimming and water sports, does not have a maximum temperature limit, only a minimum.  Following this race, several swimmers including Christine Jennings were given medical attention or taken to the hospital upon finishing.  Many stories about Crippen are claiming overexertion was the cause, however the temperature of the water and lack of safety boats seems to have played a larger role.  Were these conditions safe for athletes?  USA Swimming and FINA are both investigating this event, but the damage has been done.  An extremely talented athlete is gone.

As reported to Swimming World, there was one boat for the lead official and up to three jet skis out on the course, but no lifeguards.  For a swimmer to go down without anyone noticing is absolutely unacceptable.  Ironically, Fran Crippen had contacted race officials prior to traveling to the race on the issue of safety.  His email went unanswered.  Crippen's death begs the issue of the safety of athletes competing.  His sister Maddy, an Olympian in 2000, appeared on "Good Morning, America" Monday morning and shared that her brother had contacted the officials about safety in this overseas race.  "In the months leading up to this event my brother had written letters to different organizing committees about safety, the number of people that were there, the doctors that should be there, the support staff and the lack thereof," Maddy Crippen said.  She intends to follow through with her brother's goal of making race conditions safe for all athletes.  Unfortunately, Fran’s death may be an example that brings stricter rules for competing, but his death will not go unnoticed.

For runners, the same issues come into play.  There have been races with very warm temperatures questionable for running, such as the Chicago Marathon in both 2008 and this year, 2010, in addition to the Broad Street Run this past May where temperatures were in the 90s.  In these situations, race directors must take into consideration the safety of the athletes.  Are there more medical tents available? Should the race be postponed or cancelled? Safety guidelines must be instituted including maximum temperatures based on research on what is safe for competition and the necessary precautions put into place.

Fran Crippen was in top shape, running the NYC Marathon in both 2008 and 2009.  In 2009, he ran a 2:58:06, 6:48 mile pace.  He was a talented and dedicated athlete who was constantly giving back to the swimming community.  Read Fran Crippen's obituary to learn more about him and what a big loss the swimming community has suffered. Rest in peace, Fran Crippen.  You have been an inspiration.