U.S. swimmer Crow defended by mates

She was involved in a traffic accident that caused the death of two people.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- They've trained together 10 hours a day for two years, and now time is running out for the women of the U.S. synchronized swim team. When the Olympics are over, they'll split up, with some going to college and others making their way into the real world.
Tammy Crow has more immediate plans. When she gets home, she'll begin serving a 90-day jail sentence for a crash last year that killed her boyfriend and a 12-year-old boy.
The fact that she's here is upsetting to some people, who don't believe Crow deserves to be an Olympian.
Her teammates, who believe she's done nothing wrong, do.
"People have said things about our very good friend and teammate which aren't true," team captain Lauren McFall said. "She's been working 20 years to be here and she wants to do this for the people back home."
At the synchronized swimming pool on Friday, Crow was almost indistinguishable among the nine women in deep blue suits kicking their legs and moving their arms in unison. They were going through routines they had practiced thousands of times before, but with the games about to begin there was added urgency.
The questions came
When the music stopped blaring, Crow's coach and some of her teammates came over to talk. They knew the questions weren't going to be about American medal chances, but they came anyway.
They were there to defend their friend, which is what teammates do.
"We're pretty much all we've got," McFall said. "We're our own little society. It's very easy for us to keep outside things out because we're very close-knit."
It hasn't been so easy to keep this thing out. Synchronized swimming is usually starved for attention, but not this kind.
Crow, a 27-year-old Californian with stringy blond hair, was driving her boyfriend's SUV up a snowy mountain road early the morning of Feb. 16, 2003, when the car slid out of control and plowed sideways into two trees.
Brett Slinger, a star Little Leaguer and aspiring Olympian himself, was crushed to death in the back seat. Her boyfriend, Cody Tatro, wasn't wearing a seat belt and was killed when his head hit the steering wheel.
Alcohol, speeding
It could have been chalked up as a tragic accident. But Crow had been drinking with teammates at a San Francisco restaurant only hours before, and witnesses said she was speeding as she passed another car just before the crash.
Tatro taught at Slinger's middle school, and they were going up to meet Slinger's parents for a day of snowboarding.
A year later, Crow entered a small courtroom packed with Brett Slinger's friends and family in Sonora, Calif., and pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter. A judge gave her 90 days in jail, then postponed the sentence until after the Olympics so she could train with her teammates.
Crow overcame her grief and injuries that included a broken arm to make the team, then had to win approval from U.S. Olympic officials to go to Athens. Her teammates embraced her all the way.
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