Olympic Hopeful Heading to Jail or Athens?

April 23, 2004 -- The idea behind synchronized swimming is to make the arduous look effortless. At the Olympic level elite swimmers turn raw athleticism into refined beauty, hiding all traces of physical effort and pain behind a shimmering smile.

But for Tammy Crow, theres no pose or pretty face that can hide her pain — or the pain she's caused others.

"Just living is a punishment," she said. "I feel horrible every day."

The 27-year-old Crow has spent two decades in pools, working for a chance to represent the United States at the Olympic Games. After failing to make the team in 2000, she put everything she had into training for a chance to compete in the Athens games in 2004.

Her extraordinary efforts paid off. She made the 2004 Olympic team, but she may never make it to Athens this summer because of her role in a car crash that killed two people — one the man she loved, the other a young boy.

A Love for the Sport and Each Other

The women on the team put in long hours of grueling practices six days a week, and form extraordinary bonds.

Crow's teammate Lauren McFaro described how deep their feelings for the sport and each other are. "Its a great life. You're strong, you're in shape, you're making your body do things that people didn't think were possible. And with this group, I think we all do it because we love it and we love each other."

They have become, literally, like family. "These friendships are, are deeper than any friendships you're ever gonna have again in your life. Because we live and die together," Lauren said. And, like family, they watched Crow make friends, and then fall in love, with a ruggedly handsome coach and gym teacher named Cody Tatro.

Crow said, "I loved his passion for life. He loved to teach, he loved kids. He saw me coach, he saw me swim and I never wanted to get married, until I met Cody."

Tatro was popular with his students, and became a mentor to many of them, including 12-year-old Brett Slinger, a standout baseball player who was a star on a number of clubs and All-Star teams.

A Tragic Turn

In the early morning hours of Feb. 16, 2003, tragedy struck. Crow, Tatro and Slinger were heading for a ski resort where Slinger's parents were waiting for them. Crow was driving Tatro's SUV.

"I was driving and everything was so calm, it was serene in the car," Crow recalls.

"The next thing I remember is waking up or hearing voices. It felt like I was in a dream," she said.

Highway Patrolman Rick Thomas was on the scene of the accident. He recalls seeing Crow in a lot of pain on the ground beside the vehicle. He checked on Tatro and Slinger, who were still in the SUV. Neither showed any vital signs.

Thomas said Crow asked about Tatro and Slinger, but says he decided not to tell her they were dead. "She was hurt so bad that I felt that knowing that she had killed her passengers was just more than she needed to deal with at that point," he said.

Crow was rushed to a hospital with a broken back and a shattered right arm.

It was there that she learned Tatro and Slinger had died. "It was a social worker who had to tell me that Cody and Brett didn't make it out of the accident," she said. "I was completely in shock."

For Crow, the crash is still part of her daily life. "It never leaves my mind. It's always there. It's always in my heart."

Just out of the hospital, Crow attended Tatro's funeral, knowing her dream of life and love away from competitive swimming was gone.

"Its the plans and the future that we had that is really the hardest part of everything … not to be able to live out those plans with him is the stuff that, that makes me sad," she said.

Swimmer Strives for Olympics, as Anguished Parents Seek Justice

Despite Crow's devastating loss and injuries, her Olympic dream remained.

So she fought to restore her shattered body and spirit in a last desperate quest to compete for the gold.

"I had to at least try," she said, "and if I didn't make it, I didn't make it."

After the tragedy, a badly hurt Crow spoke to the Slingers only briefly — and never in person. That may have made her grief seem less striking than her determination to press ahead with her Olympic hopes. And press ahead she did.

Week after week, Crow worked to bring her body back. Mere recovery was never her goal. She wanted a place on the Olympic team — a team that ached to help their friend as she struggled through her nightmare.

"We needed Tammy," McFaro said. "And she needed us. You know that this is a family. And we knew that the only way for her to try to get through this was to be with us."

Last December, 10 months after the crash, Crow and four other swimmers competed for the last three spots on the 2004 Olympic team. The news: Crow had made the team, but the moment was more bittersweet than joyous.

"It was amazing because I finally accomplished a goal that has taken me a long time to accomplish but it was hard because I missed Cody," she said.

Throughout Crow's grief and rehabilitation, she faced another serious problem in the town of Sonora, Calif. Deputy District Attorney Jim Newkirk was pursuing criminal charges against her for the deaths of Tatro and Slinger.

The results of a police investigation concluded that Crow had been driving too fast on the snowy roadway that morning. Newkirk also knew that while a legal blood test at the hospital had shown no trace of alcohol in Crows bloodstream, she had admitted to having a few drinks at a party the night before and getting little sleep.

"Youre talking about some traffic violations, but the results are just catastrophic for the Slinger family and the Tatro family," Newkirk said.

So the district attorney's office filed a charge of vehicular manslaughter, a misdemeanor, against Crow. Brett Slinger's parents had pushed for a felony rap. "They were devastated. … and they wanted to make sure that the justice system worked for them," Newkirk said.

The justice system started discussing a plea. Newkirk says Crow's side sought assurances that she could serve her time after the Olympics. Crow pleaded no contest and received a 90-day jail sentence, to be served after the games.

"I can't remember a case where I've seen the judge in tears. … I don't think there was a dry eye in the house, including me," Newkirk said.

But was justice done? While Crow said she was deeply sorry for Brett's death, his parents said in a statement that Crow has not shown any sign of remorse. "This whole situation is just an inconvenience to her." And, the statement noted, Brett will never get his chance to be on an Olympic team.

The timing of Crow's sentence provoked a spasm of outrage in the press, but grief is what endures.

Awaiting the Olympic Decision

So as Crow continues to train for the Athens games, a huge threat to her Olympic dream still remains. The U.S. Olympic Committee must approve her nomination to be on the U.S. team.

Crow's friends say they know how much and how long shes suffered, and they want her on their team. "She deserves to be there, and we deserve to have her with us," Crow's teammate Kendra Zanotto said.

"This collision wasn't intentional. It produced tragic results and perhaps the Olympic committee should consider all the facts in this case when deciding whether she should compete," said Newkirk.

If Crow does make it to Athens and perhaps the winner's podium, her public joy will be dimmed by private and very personal sorrow. But, she says, Cody Tatro and Brett Slinger will be there with her if she does make it to the games.