Family sues Utah resort over diver’s death

Patrick Vandam was a competitor.

From participating on the Air Force’s swimming and diving team to scarfing down 25 hotdogs in 10 minutes at the Nathan’s Famous Hotdog Eating Contest in Coney Island, the 26-year-old Minnesota man loved a challenge.

So when Vandam heard about the U.S. National Freediving Championships in Kona, Hawaii, last year, he signed up. His training led him to Utah, where he used a popular geothermal pool at The Homestead resort known as the Crater to practice long dives under water.

He arrived at the Crater in Midway on March 17, 2010, ready to swim and freedive while visiting friends in Utah. In between dives — where Vandam tried to remain underwater for six-minute stretches to see how far he could travel — he chatted with a scuba-diving class also on-scene to explore the cavern.

After talking to class members in a hot tub area of the crater, Vandam borrowed a mask from a scuba diver instructor, then left to try another dive.

It would be his last.

Vandam died after he couldn’t make it back to the surface of the 90-degree water.

Now his parents, Elizabeth and Gerald Vandam of Eagan, Minn., have filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging The Homestead and its business partner, The Crater Inc., should have employed a lifeguard at the Crater in accordance with Utah law that cites safety regulations for geothermal pools at resorts.

By melinda Rogers

The Salt Lake Tribune