LONDON (AP) — Alex Meyer was swimming for more than himself at the Olympics.
He brought along the memory of his buddy, Fran Crippen.
Maybe it was a little too much to put on one guy’s shoulders.
Meyer finished a disappointing 10th in the men’s open water marathon at Hyde Park on Friday, ending an emotional ride that began when Crippen drowned two years ago during a World Cup race in the Middle East. Meyer was there when his friend died. In fact, he was the one who noticed Crippen was missing, finally persuading race officials to launch a search.
Crippen’s body was found two hours later, the tragedy exposing a shocking lack of safety in the high-risk sport. There have been some noticeable improvements since then, but Meyer says more needs to be done.
