45 min gingu áðrenn fyriskipararnir fóru at leita eftir Crippen

Ja tíverri, her er meira at fortelja frá hendingini í Fujairah, tá ið Fran Crippen doyði. Góði vinmaður hansara Alex Meyer fortelur nú nevniliga, at tað gingu 45 minuttir frá tí at teir svimjararnir fóru at leita eftir Crippen, eftir at teir sjálvir vóru komnir á mál, til nakar frá sjálvari kappingini kom at leita saman við teimum. Meyer var luttakarin sum fyrst uppdagaði at Crippen manglaði, og sum Crippen fyrr hevur offrað heiðursmerki fyri at hjálpa, tá ið teir báðir luttóku á Pan Pacifics. Lesið her á ESPN Swimming.

Meyer was the one who began railing at officials after Crippen went missing and organized other swimmers to search for him. “It wasn’t until 45 minutes after the men finished that there were people from the race helping us, and two hours until the rescue divers came,” he said. “There was clearly lack of communication, a lack of necessary safety procedures. Really, complete neglect is what it was.”

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Søgan um hvussu teir fóru at leita er ein lang horror-søga, sum fyri meg (Rók) persónliga rópar og skríggar at her eiga fyriskiparar og FINA at setast fyri ein veruligan dómstól. Bara tveir bátar á rutuni, eingin sum taldi, og heldur eingin uttan ein tilfeldigur svimjari sum saknaði ein av favorittunum. Svimjarin fer út at leita, á vatnskutara, og kemur afturat rópa varskó. Deyða útlúgvaðir svimjarar fara út og leita í einir 90 minuttir, til kavarar koma og finna tann deyða bara eftir nøkrum fáum minuttum:

The two swimmers also agree that they saw only two boats — one leading the men’s race and one leading the women’s — and two Jet Skis patrolling the course. By contrast, at the most recent European championships, Wolfgarten said there were 10 or 15 boats. At other big events, volunteers often paddle alongside the course in kayaks or on surfboards. In another apparent safety lapse, the usual means for counting swimmers — collecting their credentials as they enter the water — were not used.

Meyer, waiting near the finish with a FlipCam to film at Crippen’s request, felt mounting alarm after the women’s race had concluded and he still hadn’t located his friend. But the environment of an open-water race is frequently fragmented, and Meyer thought Crippen might have been disqualified or picked up on the course. He approached race officials and inquired about Crippen but got no answer. He asked them to radio the referee; they said they didn’t have radios. Finally, Meyer commandeered a Jet Ski and toured the course. “I didn’t see him swimming, and that’s when I really got freaked,” he said.

When Meyer told the swimmers — all in varying states of exhaustion — that Crippen was unaccounted for, many of them popped their goggles back into place and re-entered the soup-like water. Wolfgarten searched the sandy bottom on the shallow part of the course with rivals from South Africa, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

“Everyone was trying to help, but it was just too late,” Wolfgarten said. “It was very mixed feelings. I wanted to help and find him. At one point, I was pretty certain that I was diving for a dead body, and that wasn’t easy. That’s not the job of a swimmer to go and dive after somebody that way, but we all did it because we had a little faith left.”

By Meyer’s estimation, professional divers arrived somewhere between 90 minutes and two hours after the men’s race had ended, and the swimmers were ordered out of the water. Crippen’s body was discovered minutes later, about 500 yards from the finish. Meyer watched the rescue boat approach the shore in what felt like slow motion and caught a glimpse of Crippen lying on his back with one arm flung over his face, his goggles still on.

“I couldn’t imagine that would actually happen to Fran,” Meyer said. “Of all people, I mean, Fran?”

Even the strongest of young men are not equipped for such sights. As the body was covered and about to be loaded into an ambulance, Meyer snapped and shoved his way through a small crowd to the stretcher.

“I was hysterical and frantic, and I was yelling, ‘Fran, can you hear me, buddy? Are you OK, buddy?'” he said. “I pulled the sheet down off his face. His lips were white. The sides of his nose were really white. It was pretty terrible.”

Wolfgarten watched from a distance, but Tuesday, his voice was laced with anger when he talked about Crippen’s passing.

“It took two hours to find his body,” said Wolfgarten, who began competing in open water events five years ago. “I have a lot of trouble with that. I don’t want to be the one who’s talking bad about FINA, but I think a lot of things could have been done better, in all honesty.”

When Wolfgarten heard about Jennings’ close call — which the American swimmer recounted this week to The Washington Post — his tone grew even harsher: “That’s terrible. That should never, ever, ever, ever have happened. They say in the technical meetings, ‘If you have trouble, raise your hand, somebody will be there to assist you.’ If she raises her hand and nobody’s coming, that is definitely 100 percent the problem of the organizers. Why say it if you’re not going to do it?”