Still, Alex Meyer, the first U.S. swimmer to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, is swimming, no wetsuit, a half mile to the western shoreline and back — a warmup for an hours-long workout in the water Henry David Thoreau made famous.  Even though he swims alone, it is one short leg of a shared journey.  Meyer wasn't in the race the day Fran Crippen died in the United Arab Emirates last Oct.23. Recovering from an appendectomy, he was on shore waiting, at Crippen's request, to videotape his friend's finish in the last open-water swimming World Cup of 2010.  Crippen never came into view. Meyer initiated and joined in a search that lasted about two hours before rescuers found Crippen. An autopsy completed within a day concluded that he died from drowning and heat exhaustion. His death prompted investigations and changes in water-temperature and safety standards.  Crippen's absence — or, perhaps more pointedly, his presence — now frames Meyer's preparations for the 2012 Games.  "I do a lot of training by myself, and when I need something to help push me a little bit, I just imagine Fran swimming in the race, in the lane next to me," Meyer says. "I'm pursuing my life-long dream for myself, obviously, but Fran and I shared the same dream.  "So I'm doing it for him, too."  He is channeling the intensity of his grief toward the grandest of goals — he has told his mom he aims to stand on the Olympic podium in London, carrying one of Crippen's swim caps — and, in the process, he is providing comfort to Crippen's family.  To get the latest sports news from USA TODAY, including game results, columns and features, follow us on Twitter at @USATODAYSports.  "He has taken the responsibility of really carrying Fran's legacy on, talking about representing both himself and Fran at the Olympics," says the oldest of Crippen's three sisters, Maddy. "That's so special to me and my family because we know how important that was to Fran."  Meyer, 23, and Crippen, four years older, became fast friends at the 2009 world championships, Meyer's first competition as a member of the U.S. national team. For more than a year, they were roommates on every road trip, navigating the foreign outposts of the open-water circuit.  "That relationship has continued to grow. I don't think it stopped when Fran passed. I think it's remained a positive force," says Tim Murphy, Meyer's coach at Harvard and the head coach of the U.S. open-water team in London.  Added to the Olympic program for the 2008 Games, open-water swimming is held in outdoor bodies of water, from lakes to rivers to oceans. Conditions vary wildly. The world championships feature 5-, 10- and 25-kilometer races, the last of which last more than five hours. The Olympic race is a 10K.  A native of Ithaca, N.Y., Meyer entered his first open-water races as a young teenager.  "He likes the unpredictable quality of open water," says his mom, Shawn, who swam for the University of Georgia. "He told me, 'Mom, you've got to have a screw loose to do what I do.'"  In the pool, Meyer won two high school state titles in the 500-meter freestyle. Murphy recruited him to swim the mile at Harvard. He graduated in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in human evolutionary biology and now trains full time.  Crippen, who began open-water swimming in 2006, helped Meyer find his way in the sport, advising him on practice routines and racing tactics.  Crippen won 10K bronze in the 2009 world championships. Meyer initially struggled to contend in 10Ks but reached the upper echelon of the sport with a 25K win in the 2010 worlds.  Heading into the 2010 Pan Pacific championships, they were inseparable, filming all-for-laughs videos one day and throwing elbows as they raced with no-nonsense focus toward a finish line the next.  The day of the Pan Pacs 10K, Meyer felt sick to his stomach. He started the race but lagged from the beginning. Crippen reversed course to check on him.  "Fran literally went from the front of the pack to the back of the pack, swam with him for a while and then made his way back up," Murphy says.  Crippen finished second. Meyer pulled out of the race. Afterward, they talked for the first time about wanting to go to the 2012 Olympics together.  "I knew that there was nobody that I'd rather go with than him, and I knew that he felt the same way," Meyer says.  The week before the World Cup in the UAE, Meyer had an emergency appendectomy. He told his mom he was still going even though he could not swim. She tried to talk him out of it.  "He said, 'No, I need to be there, I need to support the USA team, I need to support Fran,'" she says.  After the race began, Meyer retreated to an air-conditioned boathouse for relief from the temperature, which was close to 100 degrees. He went back out when swimmers were coming around the course turns, but all he could see were silhouette-like figures. He sat on a rock near the finish, to videotape Crippen.  He filmed swimmer after swimmer. Twenty minutes after the leaders had finished, with no sign of Crippen, he was worried. He expressed concern to Jack Fabian, who was at the race with his daughter, Eva, another U.S. swimmer. Fabian, a college swim coach, was tending to his daughter and teammate Christine Jennings, who later were taken to a hospital and treated for dehydration. He and Meyer agreed that Meyer should get on a Jet Ski and search the length of the course.  No other USA Swimming coaches or officials were at the race. The organization now has a full-time open-water program manager who attends all events at which the USA has a team or official delegation.  After the Jet Ski search, Meyer returned to Fabian, who went to officials to begin an all-out search. Meyer remembers diving as deep as he could, again and again, while others on boats and Jet Skis searched. When he saw people gathering on shore, he knew Crippen's body had been found.  "As horrible as that was, I know that it would have been more horrible if he hadn't been there," Meyer's mom says. "Alex also struggles with that he wasn't swimming. He said, 'If I had been swimming, this wouldn't have happened. Fran took care of me in the water. I would have taken care of him.'"  When Meyer returned home, he had difficult phone calls to make. One was to Maddy. Another was to Crippen's girlfriend. For that one, he went to Walden Pond.  "Walden's definitely given me a lot of comfort since that tragedy," he says.  At the funeral, Meyer was embraced by Crippen's family and friends. He has become a close friend and adviser to Maddy, a 2000 Olympic swimmer who, since her brother's death, has been active in promoting open-water safety. She was at the national championships in Fort Lauderdale in June when Meyer won the 10K to qualify for the world championships. She followed his worlds race on Twitter. Meyer's fourth-place finish qualified him for the Olympics.  "I have a ton of respect for Alex, because he didn't let this physically put him down," she says. "He used it to make him better. I think that's what Fran would have done."  Meyer intends to spend this Oct.23 with the Crippen family. He also was with them on Crippen's birthday, April 17.  "He walks into our house, and my mom feels like a little piece of Fran is back," Maddy says.  Crippen's mom gave Meyer a photo of her son after the funeral last fall. He has taken it everywhere. He takes pictures of the photo with various landmarks in the background.  "The plan is to eventually compile them all into an album," Meyer says. "I want to give it to his family when I retire from swimming, so it's like Fran's travels too."
He swims with the memory of friend and fellow U.S. national team member Fran Crippen, who died a year ago during a World Cup event.