Sports: Competitive Swimming: American swimming star cooked to death in Dubai waters

WBZ, a Boston TV station, carries today from Dubai, United Arab Emirates an Associated Press account by sports reporter Michael Casey, "Winner slams race conditions after swimmer's death" (Oct24,2k10). Casey brings word of the tragic death of 26-year-old Fran Crippen of the USA national swim team who competed in the FINA Open Water 10-kilometer World Cup at Fujairah, east of Dubai.

A German sports official, Thomas Lurz, is quoted as saying, "...[T]emperatures must have been above 30 C (86 F) and ... several swimmers suffered due to the heat. [Lurz] said he talked to many swimmers who complained of swollen limbs, water loss and said he saw several who had become confused following their race.

"The water was amazingly hot. For sure, it was more than 30 degrees... Nobody thought such things like yesterday could happen ... It shows it was really just too hot. It was not just one swimmer. There were many swimmers who had serious problems in the water."

...German swimmer, Angela Maurer, who finished fourth in the women's category, said she thought the heat was to blame for Crippen's death.

The acronymic name FINA stands for Fédération international de natation which translates from the French to "International Federation of Swimming" in English. The Federation has issued this statement:

Following the tragic death of open water swimmer Fran Crippen (USA) in the last leg of the FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup 2010 on October 23 in Fujairah (UAE), and in respect for his memory, FINA decided to cancel the 10th and final leg (15km) of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix 2010, also scheduled for Fujairah, on October 27.

The final ranking of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix 2010 is then the one established after the ninth race of the competition, on August 14, in Ohrid Lake (MKD [Macedonia]).

According to this ranking, the first three positions in both men and women are as follows:

MEN
1. Petar Styochev (BUL) 107 pts
2. Damien Blaum (ARG) 95 pts
3. Rodolfo Valenti (ITA) 61 pts

WOMEN
1. Pilar Geijo (ARG) 124 pts
2. Esther Nunez (ESP) 106 pts
3. Antonella Bogarin (ARG) 85 pts

Dubai is the Gulf States super-rich luxury-building boomtown that suddenly went bust, but is now bustling again. No definitive statements by authorities are being made until medical info is complete, including translation of today's records from Arabic to English, and presumably a coroner's report. Many of the racers suffered from physical debilitations from the hot water of the Persian Gulf in which they swam.

Open-water swimming sports need an inner reformation, as is the case in many top-level internationally-contested sports and mega-events.

-- Sportikos