More Details Surfacing in Crippen's Death: Updated with Comments

As would be expected as people begin to wrap their heads around the tragedy that happened yesterday in the UAE when 26 year old Fran Crippen died during a 10 kilometer World Cup Race, more details are starting to perculate throughout the media.

Swimming World is reporting that their sources are reporting that the only watercraft on the 2-kilometer (1.2 mile) loop were a single boat for the referee along with three jet ski’s: one of which was dedicated to the lead group. There were also no lifeguards on the shore or near the swimmers.

To expect that few of a number of attendants to watch all of the swimmers, spread out over such a huge course, is absurd. It’s not yet clear how many swimmers were in this race, but a typical World Cup race has around 60-70 participants. It’s impossible for so few safety spotters to keep track of so many athletes.

The UAE Swim Association has clearly gone into damage control mode, citing “overexertion” as the official cause of death, though it seems a little odd that an athlete like Fran Crippen would die from simple overexertion. They denied rumors that the swimmer had a heart attack, and refused to speculate as to whether the water temperature played a role.

This is an association that has had several embarrassments in the leadup to the short course World Championships in December, including backing out of hosting the 2013 Long Course World Championships after being granted the bid. Is this tragedy another example of FINA and other National Governing bodies trying too hard to push their sport into areas which are not prepared to host them?

Despite UAE officials claiming that they followed all safety guidelines, in the official FINA Open Water World Cup regulations there is a vague clause that states that the race host must provide “safety boats as required, with regard to the course.”

While this is a vague rule, I think that any common sense of experienced race hosts would indicate that given the temperature of the water, and the inherent danger of the sport, the meager safety accommodations provided were insufficient to cover 2 kilometers of open water. I can’t imagine that the 3 jet skis provided would hold up in any liability proceedings that are sure to emerge, and FINA certainly shouldn’t leave these decisions up to inexperienced federations with very limited resources dedicated to organized open water swimming.

At any rate, the prudent thing for FINA to do is to suspend all future Open Water races until such time that a sweeping review of the open water regulations can be made.

(Update) UAE Swimming chief Ayman Saad was quoted as saying “We are sorry that the guy died but what can we do. This guy was tired and he pushed himself a lot,” Saad said. “He went down 400 meters before the finish line.” Not exactly making themselves look any better. Saad also claims that FINA signed off on all safety precautions prior to the race.FINA and the UAE swim association seem to both be holding firm to the line that all safety precautions were proper and complete, and that Crippen should have pulled himself out of the race when he reportedly told coaches that he wasn’t feeling good.

Several competitors, including race winner Thomas Lurz, challenge that, saying that several of the typical safety measures were absent from the race, including a boat that trails the last swimmer and a boat at the front of the women’s race. At any rate, it’s clear that if other competitors are the first to notice that someone didn’t finish the race, and the first to respond to the situation, that something was lacking in the safety department.

It’s clear that FINA and the UAE Swim Association are going to make their bed together, and are clearly holding firm for legal reasons. Unfortunately for them, until they step up, taking responsibility for the death, and make clear, bold, and powerful steps towards preventing these things from happening in the future, they are going to be absolutely reamed by the public.