What Meyer passed on by opting out of the race was a competition held in 86-degree water and even hotter air. Waiting for Crippen at the finish line, Meyer began worrying when his friend was not among any of the top finishers. Eventually, he went back to look for Crippen. After an extensive search, Crippen’s body was found and brought to an area hospital, where he was declared dead.

Meyer’s mom, who had been working that day, got a call from Crippen’s cell phone. It was Meyer.

“He was devastated,” Shawn Meyer said.

Following the tragedy, Meyer returned home and spent time with his family and the Crippen family. Getting back in the water was hard at first.

“Alex would tell you there were difficult days,” Shawn Meyer said. “He would be swimming for hours and not have the energy or the enthusiasm.”

Meyer was aided in the grieving process by Murphy, his former coach who continued to train him. Murphy kept a close eye on Meyer to make sure he was recovering from the emotional blow.

Today, Meyer continues to train with Murphy who was named the U.S. open water swimming coach for the 2012 Games.

“I’m in awe with what Tim manages because training someone for open water is not the same as for pool events, but he carries that kayak out and is there for hours,” Meyer said.

After a time, Meyer began to view the loss of his friend as motivation to work harder than ever.

“He just continued to imagine that dream that he and Fran shared when rooming together,” Shawn said. “He just continued to pursue that dream, and he did it with a renewed vigor and just felt as though he needed to see that through.”

Despite the incredible setback, Meyer kept on his steady pace of improvement. In 2011, he won the U.S. Open Water Championship, and then came in fourth in the world championship, becoming the first U.S. swimmer to qualify for the Olympics.

Along the way, Meyer has used skills he learned from Crippen to succeed in the complicated sport.

“Alex is still young, but he is kind of becoming that elder statesman for open water now,” Gray said.

THE HOME STRETCH

Meyer’s gradual ascent—despite the adversity—has now gotten him to London. The only question that remains is how well he can do against the world’s best on sports’ center stage.