COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Former International Olympic Committee vice president Dick Pound will chair a commission appointed by USA Swimming to review the findings in the death last month of open water swimmer Fran Crippen.
The five-member panel was announced Thursday in a statement from USA Swimming.
USA Swimming launched an independent investigation into Crippen’s October 23 death at a race in the United Arab Emirates. Pound will head the Open Water Review Commission that will examine those findings.
The 26-year-old Crippen failed to finish a 10-kilometer World Cup race in Fujairah, south of Dubai, and was found in the water several hours later about 400 meters from the finish. The event was held in waters reaching above 86 degrees.
“An athlete should never lose his or her life in a sport competition, but when such an incident occurs, it is the duty of the sport community to conduct a thorough and complete review of the situation and factors that may have caused or failed to prevent such a tragedy,” said Pound, a swimmer for Canada at the 1960 Olympics.
The commission will offer recommendations to improve safety protocols and present them to USA Swimming as well as to FINA, the sport’s world governing body. FINA’s president has said that “overexertion” likely led to Crippen’s death.
A full report from the Open Water Review Commission is expected by late March.
“This Commission is committed to its charge, which is to provide complete and independent review of all the facts surrounding this tragedy, produce a transparent report and put forth recommendations on safety protocols and procedures so that this sort of incident does not happen again.”
Other members of the panel include coach and open water technical expert Sid Cassidy, events expert Harold Cliff, former U.S. Olympic team physician Dr. Scott Rodeo, and open water swimming champion Erica Rose.
