Louis 'Dewey' Slater, 65, Dies After 1500 at U.S. Masters Swimming Nationals
www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../35580.asp
Dewey & I had agreed to count for each other during the 1500 at Nationals but I ended up not entering the meet. I feel guilty for not being there with him, but also relieved that I did not have to witness the death of a friend.
I don't think he ever posted on this forum, but he did lurk a lot and was a regular reader of pwb's High Volume workouts.
At 2009 SC Nationals, he tackled the ultimate double, racing the 1000 and 1650 on the same day, placing top 3 in both. The next morning, he came back and finished 3rd in the 400 IM.
Several years ago, our main coach commented that he would prefer to die either on his bike, or while coaching a hard swim set. Dewey said he would want to go during a race.
Like Dewey, I would prefer to die doing what I love, either riding my bicycle or while swimming a hard set/racing. Blessings and best to Dewey's family. May we learn from his example, and may his spirit carry on…
As mentioned by another poster, I have to be vigilant about recognizing "symptoms that might indicate trouble", due of my history of over-training for decades as a highly-trained athlete in other sports. Decades of over-training and not maintaining a consistent routine, year after year, manifested a mitral valve prolapse condition. This condition was revealed my former cardiologist, marathon runner, Kenneth Baughman at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine when I was 34.
And like Bobinator, I too freaked out when I learned about my condition, especially because my VO2 uptake and fitness level, stress test stats always returned results in the 95%+ range. It, however, wasn't until ~2008, at the age of 47, when I was training with Dennis Baker in Oregon, swimming even 30s splits for 10 x 50m freestyle when this condition really reared it's head. I literally thought my chest was going to explode on the sixth/seventh interval. I immediately stopped, because I wasn't too keen to have my chest pounded on. Because of this experience, I took several years off, thinking I would never be able to swim with intensity again.
Having an unusually high threshold for pain doesn't help, either--and I think one always needs to be mindful of this. This mitral valve prolapse condition requires being ever so mindful about how I am feeling, carefully monitoring my heart rate, and being able to discern between a persistent sharp, burning pain radiating down my left arm (when I sometimes pull my intercostals out of alignment when swimming backstroke) versus a pain escalation only when I am exerting myself through sustained, high-intensity aerobics. Feeling like my chest is going to explode is another indicator--something I'd rather not experience again. And because of my condition, I train the duration of most sessions at a moderate intensity. And when girded on to participate in a swim meet, I also only race sprints now, because it's usually not long enough for the discomforting cardiac pain to present.
Occasionally, I'll ramp it up during training sessions when I am in the zone, feeling good, and show Coach Marcia Benjamin that I can still notch it up at times. Perhaps one day, I'll be able to put it all back together and achieve a Top 10 individual time. But the fear of that pain is ALWAYS in the back of my mind, and I too am "slowly working my way to fearless confidence." It is dubious if I will ever swim under 30s for 50m freestyle again, like I did in my teens and 20s, but I am going to try.
And so, in general, I have resigned myself to adhering to Dr. Baughman's advice to practice fitness for life instead of 'blowing a gasket', which I am sure I would do if I were to train like the banshee I was in a past life. My priorities now are to use swimming to manage my arthritis, manage my stress, achieve the post-swim, endogenous morphine elixir effect and learning how to finesse my fluid mechanics in an effort to become an efficient swimmer. I also try to practice a mantra Dennis "Superfly" Baker imparted to me some years ago, "It's all about the process."
Like Dewey, I would prefer to die doing what I love, either riding my bicycle or while swimming a hard set/racing. Blessings and best to Dewey's family. May we learn from his example, and may his spirit carry on…
As mentioned by another poster, I have to be vigilant about recognizing "symptoms that might indicate trouble", due of my history of over-training for decades as a highly-trained athlete in other sports. Decades of over-training and not maintaining a consistent routine, year after year, manifested a mitral valve prolapse condition. This condition was revealed my former cardiologist, marathon runner, Kenneth Baughman at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine when I was 34.
And like Bobinator, I too freaked out when I learned about my condition, especially because my VO2 uptake and fitness level, stress test stats always returned results in the 95%+ range. It, however, wasn't until ~2008, at the age of 47, when I was training with Dennis Baker in Oregon, swimming even 30s splits for 10 x 50m freestyle when this condition really reared it's head. I literally thought my chest was going to explode on the sixth/seventh interval. I immediately stopped, because I wasn't too keen to have my chest pounded on. Because of this experience, I took several years off, thinking I would never be able to swim with intensity again.
Having an unusually high threshold for pain doesn't help, either--and I think one always needs to be mindful of this. This mitral valve prolapse condition requires being ever so mindful about how I am feeling, carefully monitoring my heart rate, and being able to discern between a persistent sharp, burning pain radiating down my left arm (when I sometimes pull my intercostals out of alignment when swimming backstroke) versus a pain escalation only when I am exerting myself through sustained, high-intensity aerobics. Feeling like my chest is going to explode is another indicator--something I'd rather not experience again. And because of my condition, I train the duration of most sessions at a moderate intensity. And when girded on to participate in a swim meet, I also only race sprints now, because it's usually not long enough for the discomforting cardiac pain to present.
Occasionally, I'll ramp it up during training sessions when I am in the zone, feeling good, and show Coach Marcia Benjamin that I can still notch it up at times. Perhaps one day, I'll be able to put it all back together and achieve a Top 10 individual time. But the fear of that pain is ALWAYS in the back of my mind, and I too am "slowly working my way to fearless confidence." It is dubious if I will ever swim under 30s for 50m freestyle again, like I did in my teens and 20s, but I am going to try.
And so, in general, I have resigned myself to adhering to Dr. Baughman's advice to practice fitness for life instead of 'blowing a gasket', which I am sure I would do if I were to train like the banshee I was in a past life. My priorities now are to use swimming to manage my arthritis, manage my stress, achieve the post-swim, endogenous morphine elixir effect and learning how to finesse my fluid mechanics in an effort to become an efficient swimmer. I also try to practice a mantra Dennis "Superfly" Baker imparted to me some years ago, "It's all about the process."
