Today at the Arizona state meet legend Ron Johnson after setting a new American Record in the 200 breastroke suffered a severe heart attack in the warm down pool. Thankfully the lifeguards and masters swimmer/physician Kurt Dickson and others we're able to start immediate life support until paramedics arrived and rushed him to the hospital
As of 5pm this evening all I know is that Ron had had regained consciousness, appeared to have not suffered brain damage and was breathing on his own...however he did have 5-6 clogged arteries and was going into immediate open heart surgery.....please send your prayers and thoughts this evening for his recovery....
It's incidents like this that make me question the obsessive focus on competition (of many different varieties) that seems to pervade much of masters swimming. Isn't the experience of enjoying our favorite sport and the comaraderie of other like-minded folks enough?
You think swimmers are bad, you should check out the tris, 10 times worse. For the record, and like Fort, most of my team doesn't compete, as is the case with most USMS members.
For those of us who do compete, competition is part of the whole enjoyment aspect.
It's incidents like this that make me question the obsessive focus on competition (of many different varieties) that seems to pervade much of masters swimming. Isn't the experience of enjoying our favorite sport and the comaraderie of other like-minded folks enough?
You think swimmers are bad, you should check out the tris, 10 times worse. For the record, and like Fort, most of my team doesn't compete, as is the case with most USMS members.
For those of us who do compete, competition is part of the whole enjoyment aspect.
