Alexander Dale Oen

[Apostle]

It's been reported that the world 100 metre breaststroke champion has died of a cardiac arrest at a training camp in Arizona.

What terrible news. My thoughts go out to his family.

Why is it that we are suddenly seeing a rise in the number of cardiac arrests in super fit athletes. Has training techniques now moved us into an area that the human body can't deal with sometimes? Were these kind of incidents happening back in the day?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012...?newsfeed=true

[ClareS]

Really sad - he had such a positive effect when he won, bearing in mind the awful murders in Norway at that time last summer. Fully agree, Apostle. Only said to husband yesterday that seemed to be many young & fit athletes having heart issues - not all of whom survive, as the football player, Muamba did. Perhaps with the press coverage we are more tuned into this issue, and so picking up on it more? There is a good BBC News article too on this sad news.

[Apostle]

BBC Article

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17908737

[Odmaster]

I've just heard it on the news, too. Scary that such superfit athletes are prone to the things we associate with overweight, unfit, smoking, drinking couch potatoes.......very sad though as he was such a good swimmer.

[selkie]

Swim Swam has some athlete reactions:

http://swimswam.com/2012/05/world-ch...en-dies-at-26/

Seems like it would have been hard to find a more liked & respected elite swimmer than he was.

The sudden athlete deaths have always been there. Volleyball player Flo Hyamn and basketball player Hank Gathers died on the court and made folks over here more aware of Marfan's syndrome. Ryan Shay died in the US Matathon Trials for the Beijing Olympics from cardiac hypertrophy in 2007. Ice hockey player Jiri Fisher did survive after collapsing on the bench during a game because his heart could be restarted by a defibrilator and the NHL mandates they be nearby for just such an emergency.

[Silver Fox]

I am upset and saddened by this tragic loss...condolences from Silver Fox and his family

[Tewson Veste]

A swimmer from Gloucester died at 27 from a heart issue but I believe he had a fault, this was back in the 70's. He was a good county and district swimmer who by this time was playing water polo.

[selkie]

Both Dana Vollmer and Rebecca Soni have had to have what are described as 'heart procedures' at some point, and when Vollmer was 15, she was incorrectly diagnosed with Long QT syndrome.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2004Aug8.html

[Dave_G]

Originally Posted by Apostle

It's been reported that the world 100 metre breaststroke champion has died of a cardiac arrest at a training camp in Arizona.

What terrible news. My thoughts go out to his family.

Mine do too. It is shocking news. There have been quite a few instances, as others have also noted, of fit young sportsmen and women suffering cardiac arrest and early deaths. I cannot understand this: I associate this kind of occurrence with overweight 'couch potatoes'! What is going on?

[MadHighroller]

I think Defibrillators should be in all public areas.
All leisure centres.
All schools.
Transport areas etc.

All people of all ages die of cardiac arrest. Not just overweight, unhealthy people.
More should be done to prevent it and a Defib would help lower the stats.

It is a shame that Dale Oen was alone at the time.