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.
Yes, Fresnoid. It was due to my history as an all or nothing rowing athlete. What Dr. Baughman was able to discern, from his years of experience treating elite athletes, rowers in particular, he saw this as a 'fairly common' condition in rowers. And in my case, when I was a sweep rower in the 4's and 8's, I was known as the 'engine'--my role was to make up for any strength that might be lacking by my other mates in the boat during a race--an utterly painful, out-of-body-experience role/job.
What happens to a great many rowers is the myocardia/heart wall muscle enlarges to accommodate the increased blood flow to sustain the rather intense demand placed on the larger muscle groups. The myocardia can sometimes markedly increase size as a result of this demand. Kind of like what happens, especially if one is genetically predisposed, and lifts heavy weights--in body building circles this is sometimes called hyperplasia. What transpires in a great deal of rowing athletes, if they do not maintain a consistent, regular training regimen is the the outer walls of the myocardia reverts to it's former size, loses elasticity. When this happens repetitively , elasticity of the wall muscle is quite compromised/lost. Additionally, there what is known as a back-wash/mitral valve prolapse--where the valve flaps of the mitral valve do not close smoothly or evenly, yielding chest pain I'd rather not revisit, if I can help it.
When Dr. Baughman sat me down in November 1994 after performing all his tests (stress test, echocardiogram) his report concluded:
- enlarged left atrium
- normal left ventricular size and left ventricular dysfunction
- mitral valve prolapse with valvular redundancy
- mitral regurgitation (mild)
- tricuspid regurgitation AKA back-flow (mild)
At the time, I was only at the beginning of the off-season training schedule, and he was able to catch this condition, before it escalated what could have been a fatality. He sat me down and issued this sobering advice, giving me two choices:
Choice 1. I could continue to try out for the national rowing squad, but there was a VERY GOOD likelihood I would 'blow a gasket.'
Choice 2. I could give up the intensity of the sport of rowing, and find other activities for practicing fitness for life.
I opted for Choice 2.
Yes, Fresnoid. It was due to my history as an all or nothing rowing athlete. What Dr. Baughman was able to discern, from his years of experience treating elite athletes, rowers in particular, he saw this as a 'fairly common' condition in rowers. And in my case, when I was a sweep rower in the 4's and 8's, I was known as the 'engine'--my role was to make up for any strength that might be lacking by my other mates in the boat during a race--an utterly painful, out-of-body-experience role/job.
What happens to a great many rowers is the myocardia/heart wall muscle enlarges to accommodate the increased blood flow to sustain the rather intense demand placed on the larger muscle groups. The myocardia can sometimes markedly increase size as a result of this demand. Kind of like what happens, especially if one is genetically predisposed, and lifts heavy weights--in body building circles this is sometimes called hyperplasia. What transpires in a great deal of rowing athletes, if they do not maintain a consistent, regular training regimen is the the outer walls of the myocardia reverts to it's former size, loses elasticity. When this happens repetitively , elasticity of the wall muscle is quite compromised/lost. Additionally, there what is known as a back-wash/mitral valve prolapse--where the valve flaps of the mitral valve do not close smoothly or evenly, yielding chest pain I'd rather not revisit, if I can help it.
When Dr. Baughman sat me down in November 1994 after performing all his tests (stress test, echocardiogram) his report concluded:
- enlarged left atrium
- normal left ventricular size and left ventricular dysfunction
- mitral valve prolapse with valvular redundancy
- mitral regurgitation (mild)
- tricuspid regurgitation AKA back-flow (mild)
At the time, I was only at the beginning of the off-season training schedule, and he was able to catch this condition, before it escalated what could have been a fatality. He sat me down and issued this sobering advice, giving me two choices:
Choice 1. I could continue to try out for the national rowing squad, but there was a VERY GOOD likelihood I would 'blow a gasket.'
Choice 2. I could give up the intensity of the sport of rowing, and find other activities for practicing fitness for life.
I opted for Choice 2.
