Sun, Apr 17, 2011 page19

• Report into death of US swimmer pans lax rules

  • AP, GENEVA
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  An expert panel investigating the death of open-water swimmer Fran Crippen at a race in the United Arab Emirates condemned the sport’s safety standards on Friday.

  An independent task force appointed by governing body FINA to analyze why the 26-year-old American drowned said some rules were not followed by organizers in Fujairah or race officials.

  The five-member panel led by Gunnar Werner, a Swedish lawyer and former FINA vice president, challenged the organization’s leaders to respond to about 60 recommendations and professionalize the sport.

  “There is an urgent need for an organizational commitment to athlete safety as a top priority,” the report said.

  The task force called on FINA to create working groups to help update the rules and “keep up with the sport as it moves forward as an Olympic sport.”

  Crippen died near the end of a 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup event in warm temperatures last October. No one noticed him slip beneath the surface and his body was not found until two hours later.

  The task force report detailed the autopsy, which concluded he died from drowning and heat exhaustion.

  However, the report did not exclude that a heart abnormality could have been a factor, or “uncontrolled exercise-induced asthma” in unfavorable race conditions.

  Werner’s panel forensically examined a “multitude of factors” that might have contributed to creating such an ultimately dangerous race environment.

  FINA’s open-water regulations were “too vague, leaving room for interpretation,” the report said.

  Even those inadequate rules were “not addressed or properly implemented at the Fujairah event by the organizing committee and the FINA representative.”

  The course had no mandatory health and safety certificate and organizers had no liability insurance cover demanded by FINA, the task force said.

  While Fujairah met FINA’s standard for providing rescue boats, the rules did not stipulate how they should be equipped or positioned, or require pilots to have lifesaving skills.

  “Inadequate surveillance and safety measures made it difficult, and at times impossible, to recognize and act upon an athlete in distress,” the report said.

  The autopsy said that water temperatures on Oct. 26 were around 30°C and the air temperature above 37.8°C.

  Werner’s team noted that existing FINA rules had no recommended upper temperature limit for racing.

  The report called on FINA to prevent racing in water above 28°C and look at a safe ratio of combined air and water temperatures. Water and air quality standards should also be confirmed by international organizations.

  FINA should introduce medical action plans for organizers to follow and consider using GPS technology to track swimmers in the water, the report said.

  A World Cup rule requiring swimmers to complete the final open-water race should also be scrapped. Crippen perhaps continued at the season-ending Fujairah event “despite feeling distressed or fatigued” because of the rule, the report said.

  FINA was asked to re-examine its bidding process for awarding events and to require better facilities before cities and federations could be considered.
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