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Pound To Chair USA's Crippen Inquiry

Nov 10, 2010  - USA Swimming

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Former IOC Vice President Richard Pound will chair the five-person Open Water Review Commission appointed by USA Swimming to review the findings of the independent investigation initiated by USA Swimming into the tragic death of Open Water athlete Fran Crippen on October 23 at a FINA race in the United Arab Emirates.

Along with reviewing the findings of the independent investigation, the Commission will solicit and consider other pertinent information from appropriate individuals and organizations and develop recommendations for the improvement of safety protocols, procedures, and precautions arising from the death of Crippen. These recommendations will be presented to USA Swimming as well as FINA, which sanctioned the UAE race.

The Commission will make its full report to USA Swimming by the end of March 2011.

“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. “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.”

The members of the Commission were selected by USA Swimming President Bruce Stratton in consultation with past presidents, USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus and U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun.

“We have assembled an outstanding group of qualified individuals who are all deeply committed to fulfilling the charge of the Commission,” said Stratton. “Their work will be thorough and, as such, will require time and patience. Our end goal is not speed, but to provide the most complete and accurate information possible and to drive strong and effective recommendations on Open Water safety going forward to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.”

The members of the Commission are as follows.

Richard (Dick) Pound, Chairperson - A former Vice President of the International Olympic Committee and past president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Pound has been an influential member of the IOC for more than 30 years. A Canadian Olympic swimmer at the 1960 Olympic Games, Pound led the investigation surrounding the 2002 Olympic Games scandal which lead to new regulations and an ethics watchdog to oversee interaction between IOC members and bidding cities. Pound also served as President of the World Anti-Doping Association for nine years where he oversaw an unprecedented toughening of the drug-testing regimen. Pound is currently senior partner at the law firm Stikeman Elliott, LLP, based in Montreal. Full bio…

Sid Cassidy, Coach and Technical Expert - Cassidy served as a member of the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee from 1996-2009. He chaired the committee from 2006-2009, including during the inaugural Olympic open water event in 2008.  Cassidy also served as chair of the UANA Open Water Committee from 2002-06. He was Head Open Water Coach for the U.S. National Team from 1991-1996 and coached collegiately for 13 years. Full Bio…

Harold Cliff, Events Expert - Cliff is an expert in project management, having overseen world class sports events with television audiences in the billions. A four-year member of the FINA Technical Swimming Committee, Cliff worked for Swimming Canada for 12 years, including seven as its Chief Executive Officer. Cliff is the current President of the Omaha Sports Commission and as such, is responsible for the overall management of the organization including bidding for and organizing major sporting competitions. Cliff will serve as the CEO of the Olympic Team Trials - Swimming in 2012. Full Bio…

Dr. Scott Rodeo, Medical Consultant - Dr. Rodeo served as a Team Physician for the United States Olympic Team in 2004 and 2008 and has worked as the Team Physician for the U.S. National Swim Team at four additional international competitions. He currently serves as Associate Team Physician for the NFL’s New York Giants and is the Co-Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service at the Hospital for Special Surgery. He is Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Cornell University and is an Attending Surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery and the New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Full Bio…

Erica Rose, Open Water Athlete - Rose has represented the USA on seven World Championship teams. She has been on the U.S. National Team for 11 years. She has 10 national titles to her credit and has been voted USA Swimming’s Open Water Swimmer of the Year four times. Rose has competed in 16 international FINA races over three years of the FINA World Cup / Grand Prix Series, and, in 2007, finished third overall in the world rankings. Full Bio…

A wonderful tribute from Meredith Roach (Jack’s wife) can be found here: http://web.me.com/meredithroach

Update 22 - Thursday - November 4, 2010

A number of important things are picking up steam related to the efforts that USA Swimming is taking with the investigation and review of the recent open water tragedy in the UAE; most noteworthy is the following announcement that now appears on the front page of the USA Swimming website:

Anyone who has any information, recommendations and suggestions relevant to USA Swimming’s independent investigation of swimmer Fran Crippen’s death at the FINA Open Water World Cup race in the United Arab Emirates should send it to: owcommission@usaswimming.org.

Again, it is very important to stress that the most important thing we can be doing right now is to gather as much information as possible while things are still fresh in people’s minds.  Any information that can help with the fact-finding investigation will immediately be turned over to the professional investigators; and all information will be turned over to the Open Water Review Commission.

Investigative efforts are already underway, and we anticipate being in a position to make an announcement regarding the membership of the Open Water Review Commission sometime next week.  It should also be stressed that both the investigation and the review process will take time and patience will be important.