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FINA Fumbles Again

FINA – the international governing body for the sport of swimming – has once again failed in its key role as guardian of the aquatic sports and athletes.

In the past, FINA has consistently been on the wrong side of key issues involving the integrity of swimming. Among them are the issues of doping and the late, unlamented high-tech swim suits. This time, however, the issue is even more important. This time the issue is, literally, one of life and death.

Some background: In the aftermath of the tragic death of US open water champion, Fran Crippen, in October 2010 during a FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup race in the United Arab Emirates, FINA promised to produce a report on the tragic incident by January 2011, and to include a set of rules to enhance the safety of the competitors. About the same time, USA Swimming announced that it would conduct its own, independent investigation and produce its own safety guidelines. Concurrently, British Swimming and a number of other federations and governing bodies reviewed and modified their own sanctioning and safety requirements.

January came and went, but there was no report. Then February and March, and still no report from FINA. A spokesman hinted it could not possibly be completed until the fall.

Meanwhile, USA Swimming released its report. The American report, along with some public prodding by Richard Pound, the Canadian lawyer and former vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), led to FINA issuing its report only a few days later. Both reports were excellent, containing sound proposals to enhance the safety of the competitors in open water races.

However, at the very first opportunity – the 2011 FINA World Swimming championships in Shanghai, China, last July – FINA proceeded to ignore its own guidelines in the grueling 25-km race. There, as expected, water temperatures approached 90°F (32°F) in the middle of the race. Another tragedy barely was averted when an official rescued an exhausted swimmer experiencing hyperthermia. In fact, conditions were so clearly unsafe, that the two reigning world 25-km champions, Alex Meyer of the USA and Lynsey Heister of the Netherlands, as well as Germany’s ten-time world champion, Thomas Lurz, refused to participate.

In response to an onslaught of criticism, FINA promised to recruit prominent scientists to research the issue of extreme water temperature and swimmer safety. This research was to lead to FINA guidelines on minimum and maximum temperatures for open water races – which presently do not exist. FINA solemnly promised to have the report ready in the fourth quarter of 2011.

And that brings us to the latest debacle.

In preparation for a meeting of the USA Swimming International Relations Committee (IRC), Dale Neuburger, a vice president of FINA, requested a copy of the water temperature report from FINA Executive Director, Cornel Marculescu. Marculescu told him there was no report and, what’s more, there would be no report.

FINA, he said, had turned over responsibility for producing the report to the International Olympic Committee and the World Triathlon Union. Their report, he said, would be issued in May of 2013.

No explanation was given as to why responsibility for the report had been taken from FINA or who initiated the action – or how a report for triathletes by the triathlon community will be applicable to open water swimmers. Apparently, Marculescu deemed the matter so unimportant that he simply hadn’t bothered to mention it to anyone.

The IRC was infuriated on hearing of FINA’s casual disregard of athlete safety and Marculescu’s cavalier attitude toward keeping his own FINA bureau members informed. Said one IRC member, “The sad truth is that the FINA leadership just doesn’t give a damn about the athletes,” an assertion that accurately reflected the opinion of a large majority of committee members.

The May 2013 date for the issuance of the International Olympic Committee – World Triathlon Union’s joint report on water temperatures has now been pushed back to November of 2013.

There is no guarantee that the IOC and the WTU will produce the report in November 2013, or ever, for that matter. There certainly is a need to address the safety issue. Since the year of Crippen’s tragic death, 23 open water swimmers and a number of triathletes have died during competitions. That’s more than in any other sport, including race car driving, free mountain climbing, football, free diving, bungee jumping and all the martial arts.

There is no issue more important or more compelling than the safety – and lives – of our athletes. It is time for FINA to step up and, finally, to assume responsibility for this issue.

Copyright © 2012 by Open Water Source

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