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Aug. 17, 2003
SANTO DOMINGO – Second-year University of Virginia swimmer Fran Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa./Germantown Academy) finished second in the 1500-meter freestyle Saturday evening (August 16) to garner his second silver medal in the Pan American Games which were contested in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Crippen, who also won a silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle earlier in the games, out-touched Chris Thompson to earn the silver in the 1500-meter freestyle Saturday evening. Crippen posted a personal-best time of 15:19.63 to place second, just one one-hundredth of a second ahead of Thompson.
All four Virginia swimmers who competed in the 2003 Pan American Games won medals. Cavalier swimmers accounted for one gold and four silver medals to help Team USA dominate the swimming competition. Crippen won silver medals in the 400 and 1500-meter freestyles. Third-year Michael Raab (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) won the gold in the 200-meter butterfly with a Pan Am Games record time of 1:57.33. Fourth-year Luke Wagner (Englewood, Colo./Regis Jesuit) placed second in the 200-meter backstroke, while second-year Rachael Burke (Bethesda, Md./Good Counsel) took second in the 800-meter freestyle.