AMES, Iowa —Iowa State University said it will suspend crew club activities for at least the 2021-2022 school year following two reviews of a fatal boating accident that killed two club members at Little Wall Lake. ISU crew club members Derek Nanni and Yaakov Ben-David died March 28 in the boating accident. KCCI reports separate reviews of the incident by the U.S. Council for Athletes Health and a committee of university personnel found the school’s implementation of health and safety policies for the club to be “deficient.”

The reviews found that the crew club experienced inadequate levels of health and safety oversight, training and support and that there was an “incomplete analysis of the relative risks and necessary safety considerations” for the club. Both reviews found that the university failed to establish effective oversight for the crew club, resulting in inadequate safety, but stated that club leadership and recreation services at the school failed to address known safety concerns.

Initial findings from both reviews listed health and safety standards that were not applied on March 28, including ignoring high wind speeds prior to activity, failing to respond to worsening weather, failing to deploy a safety launch boat and failure to provide proper safety and communication devices.

The reviews also found that two crew club members lacked the on-water experience necessary to practice in high wind and worsening weather. An email sent by the crew club to the university’s recreation services in February 2020 listed multiple safety concerns within the club, including the club’s lack of a launch boat. ISU told KCCI in April that the club struggled to obtain a launch boat due to fundraising issues.

The university listed several immediate actions it will take following the reviews, including the suspension of crew club activities until at least 2022. The school said it will conduct risk reviews of each of its sport clubs, implement policy revisions and analyze recommendations made by each review of the March 28 incident.