This is so frustrating!
Been looking forward the whole week to doing the ORS 2km ocean race on Sunday, then woke in the morning with headache, tight chest, cough and marked arrhythmia, and so had to cancel the idea.
Having MVP and associated arrhythmia, my heart is very sensitive to my body being anything less than 100%. I had this thoroughly checked (again) before going to the Gold Coast WTC by a heart specialist, who considers my condition not life threatening, but rather what is known as a “normal abnormality” (about 8% of population have it, and most of those don’t even know).
This is good news if right, but very bad if something is being missed…
So I nevertheless remain concerned about doing open water swimming when it’s playing up, especially in the light of an article I read which states:
“Twenty of the total 25 deaths associated with triathlons as recorded by USA Triathlon occurred during the swim portion of the events. So, what’s the deal with swimming?…
…A lot of suspicion is placed on a peculiar heart rhythm disorder known as “Long Q-T syndrome.” This is a peculiar problem that occurs as heart pauses between beats, and the cells of the heart tissue are getting ready to squeeze again when signaled to do so by the heart’s own electrical circuit. In Long Q-T syndrome, something goes wrong, and during that pause the heart cannot continue beating. For unknown reasons, this phenomenon seems to occur more often during swimming.”
Read full article here: Swimming Deaths and the Triathlon
Mike