Her experience may help explain the conditions that family members say could have contributed to the death of Fran Crippen, 26, of Conshohocken, an experienced open-water swimmer and aspiring Olympian.
His body was found two hours after the six-mile race, about 400 yards from the finish.
Officials in the UAE listed his death as a drowning. Jennings and two other swimmers were hospitalized after the race. Crippen's funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Matthew Roman Catholic Church in Conshohocken.
USA Swimming, the U.S. competitive swimming governing body, has said it will conduct its own investigation.
Pedro Adrega, head of communications for FINA, the sport's world governing body, which staged the World Cup event, wrote in an e-mail to The Inquirer that "following the investigation on this case, FINA will make public its conclusions."
According to the Associated Press, Ayman Saad, the managing director of the UAE swimming federation, said on Monday that Crippen's body was found with swimming goggles in place, suggesting he went down in "one second." He said that open-water swimmers normally remove their goggles immediately when they are fatigued or in trouble.
"It's not normal. . . . I think he pushed himself too much," Saad said.
Jennings on Tuesday said she had not heard of swimmers in trouble removing their goggles. "I was freaking out, and I never took them off," she said.
Several competitors have said that air and water temperatures during the race were high and that the race was not well organized.
