from the PacMasters Update Email
Ross Shoemaker, RIP
1942-2007
Ross Shoemaker died suddenly at the Senior Games following one of his swims. Ross had collapsed on the deck, and was not able to be revived. It is a terrible loss - Ross was a longtime member of the San Mateo Marlins, a warm and supportive man, and a devoted swimmer with an encouraging word for everyone.
Ross coached at Chabot Junior College for many years. Services are pending.
I don't think I need to point out the frequncy with which these unfortunate events have been occuring recently. Should active swimmers be getting stress echos or something as they get older? Are simple BP and lipid screens simply not enough?
Parents
Former Member
As some of you know from prior posts, I have recently returned to swimming competitively a little less than two years following a heart attack. I am now 46. I passed a stress test with flying colors, and my good cholesterol is 59 and my bad is 70. My weight is better. I feel great. I swim 15 to 20k a week, and am beginning to do more speed work, which leads to higher heart rates. Of course this flurry of cardiac events does give me pause. But I have decided that competition is part of reclaiming my self-image as an athlete; if I do not tether the activity to training to compete, I will not be able to sustain it. I guess it's an excess of goal-oriented behavior, but there it is. I will be eager to learn more as things progress about the "vulnerable plaque" testing, which poses the danger as I understand it.
As some of you know from prior posts, I have recently returned to swimming competitively a little less than two years following a heart attack. I am now 46. I passed a stress test with flying colors, and my good cholesterol is 59 and my bad is 70. My weight is better. I feel great. I swim 15 to 20k a week, and am beginning to do more speed work, which leads to higher heart rates. Of course this flurry of cardiac events does give me pause. But I have decided that competition is part of reclaiming my self-image as an athlete; if I do not tether the activity to training to compete, I will not be able to sustain it. I guess it's an excess of goal-oriented behavior, but there it is. I will be eager to learn more as things progress about the "vulnerable plaque" testing, which poses the danger as I understand it.
