Conshohocken's Fran Crippen dies in swimming race

Fran Crippen, a swimming star at Germantown Academy who returned to world-class competition last year to chase his dream of being an Olympian, died during an open-water race in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.

Crippen, 26, reportedly was struggling late in the 10-kilometer race, held in 100-degree weather, and told a team coach that he wasn't feeling well. When he failed to finish, other competitors dived back in to look for him, along with divers. His body was found about two hours later.

A gregarious, 6-foot-2 member of a dynastic swimming family from Conshohocken, Crippen was competing in his last race of the season before a 10-day vacation in Italy. A rabid Philadelphia sports fan, he constantly checked for updates on the Phillies' playoff run.

His mother, Patricia, said she had dropped him off at Philadelphia International Airport on Tuesday with an admonishment to avoid tourist spots in Europe after his meet because of the terrorism alerts.

"He was the love of our lives," she said. "He was just so full of life and enjoyed life so much."

Before Thursday's win, "his last e-mail to me was, 'How come the Phillies keep losing, what the heck.' "

Crippen's coach at Germantown Academy, Richard Shoulberg, went to the family home in Conshohocken on Saturday morning to break the news.

"My sixth sense tells me that he probably didn't realize he was in trouble, and probably just pushed harder," Shoulberg said in an interview.

"He would swim through pain every day in training," he said. "He just wanted to be an Olympian."

Crippen's three sisters are also top competitive swimmers. His older sister, Maddy, swam for Villanova and competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Claire Crippen was an all-American at Virginia, where her brother also swam, and Teresa Crippen swims collegiately at Florida and is on the national team.

"He was our hero," Maddy Crippen said.

Fran Crippen started competitive swimming when he was 6 and played many sports before focusing on swimming in high school. Shoulberg said Crippen had loved spending time with young swimmers - even those just learning to swim.

"The irony is he was very, very concerned about the safety of kids in pools," Shoulberg said. "He was caring and loving and loved the sport, loved the pool.

"Lightning struck at the wrong time, that's all."

After a disappointing performance in the 2008 Olympic trials, Shoulberg said, Crippen quit competitive swimming and returned to Germantown Academy as a volunteer coach.

But he soon caught the bug again and resumed training with Shoulberg. He won a bronze medal in the 10K at the 2009 open-water world championships and was training hard for his goal of swimming in the 2012 Olympics - swimming about 45 miles a week and running.

On Saturday, Crippen was competing in the FINA Open Water 10K World Cup in Fujairah, south of Dubai.

After eight kilometers, Crippen reportedly told a coach that he wasn't feeling well, according to FINA president Julio Maglione of Uruguay, who heard the news at an Olympic meeting in Acapulco, Mexico. Another swimmer alerted race officials that Crippen was struggling, but he had apparently already slipped under water by the time officials started looking.

Maglione said that it was the first death in any FINA event, and that the organization had opened an investigation.

Open-water events are typically monitored by spotters on personal watercraft and in boats. Maglione said race organizers had done nothing wrong.

"All was under strict rules that exist in our competition. All was absolutely correct," he said. "It was an accident, a terrible accident."

In addition to Crippen, three swimmers - two U.S. women and one Brazilian - were taken to a hospital, apparently because of heat-related problems, Maglione said.

USA Swimming said coaches, athletes, members, and employees were "deeply saddened" by Crippen's death.

"Fran was a champion swimmer but, more importantly, a tremendous person, and he will be remembered for so many extraordinary qualities," the organization said in a statement. "We will continue to work with FINA, the meet host, and others to determine how this tragedy occurred."