In an update to the previously-reported standings from the 2015 SwimTheSwan event in Perth, Australia as part of the 2015 BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series, Christine Jennings has been awarded 5th-place honors, and with it a $2,000 cash prize. Originally, official results had her American teammate Eva Fabian in 5th.
The initial red-flag on the result was that Jennings and another American, Haley Anderson, were nose-and-nose as they hit the finish pad, as was verified by several observers at the race, both neutral and biased. While original unofficial results had Jennings in 5th-place, when the official results were released, Jennings’ finish time was around 25 seconds slower than that of Anderson, with whom she finished nearly identically to the naked eye.
The error initially went unnoticed because of those unofficial results, but after a protest and several days of investigation, race organizers awarded 5th-place to Jennings, saying that she finished four-tenths of a second behind Anderson and six-tenths in front of Fabian.
Fabian, who is an amateur athlete still competing at Yale, likely would have been unable to accept the prize money per NCAA rules.
