Fujairah: A pall of gloom descended at the Fujairah International Marine Club (FIMC) with the news that American swimmer Francis Crippen had gone missing during the course of the eighth and final round of the Fina 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup earlier on Saturday.
The organisers called in for deep sea divers, who managed to find an unconscious Crippen just before the final buoy at around 2pm. He was brought to shore and rushed to the Fujairah Hospital in an ambulance.
The American was in contention for the end of season overall honours in pursuit of eventual winner Chad Ho of South Africa, who stood sixth and snatch the overall title. Other swimmers participating in this event told Gulf News that Crippen had showed signs of fatigue sometime on the third lap of this five-lap race.
The participating swimmers were the first to respond led by Bulgarian Petar Stoychev as they went back into the water trying to find the missing Crippen.
