A somber tone settled inside the Arena-Auditorium as a celebration of life for Luke Slabber, Charlie Clark and Carson Muir was held on Wednesday, March 6. Slabber, Clark and Muir were all members of the University of Wyoming swim team who tragically passed away in a single car accident on U.S. Highway 287, which connects Laramie to Fort Collins. Two other members of the men’s swim team suffered minor injuries in the crash.
Many different speakers were present at the Arena-Auditorium in celebration of the lives of Slabber, Clark and Muir, which was open to the public. Those speaking included Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, UW President Ed Seidel and swim and dive head coach Dave Denniston alongside some members of the swim and dive team.
Muir, 18, a member of the women’s swim team, originally from Birmingham, AL majored in animal and veterinary sciences. One of her good friends and freshman teammate, Sophie Nutter, spoke fondly of Muir as her best friend on the team.
“She was one of the things I looked forward to when I went to practice,” Nutter said. “I was so lucky to spend so much time together with her because Carson had a gift. A unique ability to make everybody feel loved and cherished.”
Clark, 19, a member of the men’s swim team, originally from Las Vegas, NV majored in psychology. His senior teammate and good friend Harry Tjaden remembers Clark as one of the most loyal people he’s ever met, a quality that he respected most in Clark.
“If there is one word that pops into my head every time I think about Charlie it’s loyalty,” Tjaden said.
“I had a really tough experience this year at Denver in a particular race and he was in the same heat as me. It was embarrassing for me and Charlie, instead of celebrating his own excellent race, he came over to talk to me and made me feel a lot better. It really showed me how loyalty can resonate with people,” Tjaden shared.
Slabber, 20, also a member of the men’s swim team, originally from Cape Town, South Africa majored in construction management. His long time friend, roommate and teammate junior Gavin Smith noted just how much of an impact Slabber had on his life throughout the many years the two had been friends.
“You were the nicest person I ever met,” Smith said in an homage to Slabber. “You would never hurt a soul and I’m so glad you stuck with who you are. I just want you to know that you’ve impacted my life in ways that you cannot imagine.”
Other speakers such as Seidel noted how much loss the university and Laramie as a community has suffered as a whole in the past few months and urges that everyone sticks together and supports one another.
“This is just such an incredible amount of loss in such a short amount of time. It’s something no mother, no father, no family, friend, professor, no community should ever have to bear,” Seidel said. “I urge all of you to reach out to each other, to comfort each other, to share your grief with each other.”
While this tragic event has left much of the state devastated, it has united many in an effort to raise money for the families involved in the tragedy through a GoFundMe page that has currently raised $134,548 to date.
While the tragedy has touched many lives in the Laramie community and has left many devastated, Denniston knows that he will always personally remember the smiles of Slabber, Clark and Muir and that their legacies will forever be remembered by those close to them.
“A smile is a rare thing that I get to experience with my athletes,” Denniston said. “However, the unique smiles of Charlie, Carson and Luke will be ingrained in our memory forever.”
