Fran Crippen

Francis Crippen (April 17, 1984 – October 23, 2010) was an American long-distance swimmer. After being a pool swimmer for most of his career, Crippen made the transition to open water swimming in 2006. In international competitions, Crippen won seven medals, five of which were in the open water and two in the pool. Crippen died during an open water swimming race in the United Arab Emirates in 2010 at the age of 26.

Early life Crippen was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in 1984 to Pete and Pat Crippen. Crippen started swimming at the age of six because of his sister Maddy, as she and his other two sisters are all also competitive swimmers. Maddy was a 2000 Olympian in the 400 individual medley and swam for Villanova University. His sister Claire is an NCAA All-American and Olympic Trials qualifier who swam for the University of Virginia. Teresa Crippen is a Pan-American Games Champion in the 200 meter backstroke and U.S. national team member. In 1999, Crippen was selected for the U.S. Junior National Team.

Swimming career Crippen swam for the University of Virginia, where he was an 11-time All-American and two-time Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) swimmer of the year. Crippen received MVP awards in 2003-4, a rookie of the year award in 2003, a hardest worker award in 2006 as well as a Coaches award and a Ramirez family leadership award from the University of Virginia. His sister Claire received the MVP award swimming for Virginia in 2008. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 2006 where he majored in sociology. During Crippen's time at UVA, he was a member of the IMP Society, one of the University's secret societies. A year later, Crippen again won silver in the 10 km at the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, California.

Crippen was a six-time US National Champion. He won two national titles in the 800 m freestyle, two in the 5 km open water, and two in the 10 km open water event.

FINA president Dr. Julio Maglione said it was the first death in any FINA event and an investigation was opened. Crippen had told his coach after 8 kilometers that he was feeling thirsty, yet continued with the race. A report released by FINA following Crippen's death called for an update in open water swimming safety regulations. The report concluded that Crippen may have died of a "cardiac abnormality" and "uncontrolled exercise-induced asthma in unfavourable race environmental conditions". Crippen's former coach Dick Shoulburg of Germantown Academy, and the Crippen family brought pressure on FINA to adopt better safety regulations.