Francis Crippen: Swimmer Dies During Open-Water Race

by Jordan Yerman | October 25, 2010 at 09:52 am

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US Swimmer Fran Crippen Dies During Race in United Arab Emirates

Francis Crippen, a 26-year-old Olympic hopeful, died while competing in the Marathon Swimming World Cup. The 10km race took place in Fujairah, UAE. Preliminary examinations suggest that Fran Crippen died of a heart attack, exacerbated by exhaustion and the unusually warm water: several swimmers were hospitalized after the race.

FINA, which oversees the open water events, said that Fran Crippen died due to exhaustion, but his sister, Maddy Crippen, said that safety measures were lacking, and that Francis Crippen had pointed that out. Crippen's teammate Alex Meyer was the one who noticed that Fran had not finished the race.

[Alaric Gomes, Eyewitness]:
"Swimmers started weeping openly, I mean they were sad because one of theirs had gone missing and now they had found him and they knew what was obvious so, the people were consoling each other, hugging each other and people who have swum, who have gone round the world and suddenly they find that one of them is no more. It was pretty sad to see."

“What we know initially is that he exerted himself more than he could, that’s what we know,” said FINA President Julio Maglione of Uruguay, attending an International Olympic Committee conference in Acapulco, Mexico. “The medical report said it was huge overexertion, that’s what they told me."

Francis Crippen was an 11-time All American and 6-time national champion distance swimmer. In discussing Fran's concerns, Maddy Crippen said,

"But the one thing that I do know is that 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," she said.