Hi, I'm a 57 year old male swimmer with atrial fibrillation taking rhythmol twice a day. (I'm in sinus rhythm most of the time.) I also do a 2,800 yard workout four times a week and aspire to NQT for the 50 and 100 freestyle.
I can't seem to get straight answers from my cardiologist. He says that it is fine to swim, but deeper questions are beyond him.
For example...
Is it OK to really press myself in my workouts?
(I'm out of breath at the end of some of my sets, but who isn't?)
Should I be thinking of long even swims rather than sprint swims?
(I do mile and two mile open water swims, but they're not very exciting for me.)
I'm fighting for breath sometimes during my sets. Is this just a matter of conditioning, or is there a direct link to the a fib?
I have the low side of normal blood pressure. Is there any relationship between blood pressure and whether people are better constituted to be sprinters vs. distance swimmers?
Any information from M.D.s and/or others who have heart conditions would be appreciated.
See you at nationals!
Parents
Former Member
I had a heart attack (4 stents) two years ago. I returned to serious workouts and distance a little less than a year ago, and swam in my first masters meets last spring. I have lost weight, my cholesterol numbers are very good, I take lots of medicines. My cardiologist was skeptical about competition, so had to pass a stress test with flying colors to persuade him. Oh, and I had an spontaneous a. fib just after my stress test and they kept me overnight. I had experienced that sensation every once in a while, but not chronically.
I continue to read about people who expire or nearly so at masters meets, always as a result of CAD. But here is what I told my cardiologist: What I have gotten back is my self-identification as an athlete. Competition is part of that. I recognize that I have some elevated risk of a cardiac event due to swimming, but it's risk I am prepared to run, because the alternative is discouragement and sloth. Circumstances could change that--I'm not nuts--but for now, I am looking forward to decades of masters swimming. I have recently adopted the life goal of completing a 200 fly in competition.
Members of this forum have been very helpful to me, and I hope to meet them, possibly next year at SC nationals, to which I will be going, hell or high water.
Good luck working your way through the thicket of all this. You have already been through a great deal. You must be a sturdy soul. Best to you.
I had a heart attack (4 stents) two years ago. I returned to serious workouts and distance a little less than a year ago, and swam in my first masters meets last spring. I have lost weight, my cholesterol numbers are very good, I take lots of medicines. My cardiologist was skeptical about competition, so had to pass a stress test with flying colors to persuade him. Oh, and I had an spontaneous a. fib just after my stress test and they kept me overnight. I had experienced that sensation every once in a while, but not chronically.
I continue to read about people who expire or nearly so at masters meets, always as a result of CAD. But here is what I told my cardiologist: What I have gotten back is my self-identification as an athlete. Competition is part of that. I recognize that I have some elevated risk of a cardiac event due to swimming, but it's risk I am prepared to run, because the alternative is discouragement and sloth. Circumstances could change that--I'm not nuts--but for now, I am looking forward to decades of masters swimming. I have recently adopted the life goal of completing a 200 fly in competition.
Members of this forum have been very helpful to me, and I hope to meet them, possibly next year at SC nationals, to which I will be going, hell or high water.
Good luck working your way through the thicket of all this. You have already been through a great deal. You must be a sturdy soul. Best to you.
