Hot pink ribbon-like patches sprouted Monday on life vests at the Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis as junior sailors prepared for practice, bright remembrances of the 14-year-old student who died last week in an accident during practice.
Friends of Olivia Constants made dozens of patches, decorating them with fabric paint and marker to note her dates of birth and death.
The club's junior sailing program, where Olivia was in the top level for junior racers using the Club 420 sailboat, will be closed Tuesday for Olivia's funeral.
In the aftermath of what longtime sailors have called a freak accident, the sailing club is "reviewing and critiquing safety procedures and equipment to make what was good even better," said Hal Whitacre, commodore of the club, which was founded more than five decades ago.
"We will be asking an independent safety organization to look at the safety equipment and the boats," Whitacre said.
Meanwhile, instructors, who go over safety daily with youths, have been reinforcing safety procedures with children and teenagers. Leaders have been in contact with other instructional sailing programs in Annapolis, sharing their safety practices and looking for ideas, he said.
Among the other them has been the Annapolis Yacht Club, Whitacre said.
The Severn sailing group also met Monday with parents, some of whom Whitacre said asked about safety and grief counseling. At the same time, the club is considering ways to remember Olivia, among them naming the end of the season regatta for her.
Olivia was trapped underwater in the Severn River after her boat capsized Thursday afternoon. Investigators said the trapeze harness she was wearing, which allows a sailor to hang over the water as a counterweight to wind in the sails, became tangled in the boat's rigging.
The investigation is continuing, said state Department of Natural Resources Police spokesman Sgt. Art Windemuth.
Broadneck High School, where Olivia had just completed her freshman year and played junior varsity soccer, offered grief counseling Monday. Principal David Smith said that among coaches and staff at the school Monday, the most often-heard descriptions of Olivia were "such a sweet kid" and "all-around nice young woman."