Conquering Hawaii's Biggest Waves

Don Macdonald kayaking down the face of a huge rolling wave crashing down on Doug McConnell

It's a few months since escorting Doug McConnell (A Long Swim) across the Molokai Channel, better known as the Ka’iwi Channel (or Channel of Bones) separating the islands of Molokai and Oahu.

Stretching 26 miles (42 kilometers) and plunging to a depth of 2,300 feet (701 meters), the Ka’iwi Channel has the reputation as one of the world’s most treacherous bodies of water.



Leaving at midnight in pitch black inky warm, with not even a house light from shore, we shoved off from shore Doug's red and green safety lights blinking away as the only visual contact between us, stars shining so bright I felt like Christopher Columbus knowing ahead there was an island yet to reveal itself after 18 hours of sun drenched paddling.

I knew that each human powered race across the Channel of Bones is regarded worldwide as the crowning achievement of the sport and it doesn’t give up easily.

Some 16 hours later, after calm seas and great swimming, mother nature unleashed strong winds following behind a tropical depression driving the seas to 12 foot.
The escort boat with a fly bridge would dip down in the trough ahead of us and disappear completely.

As evening fell, it became apparent mother nature had won this day. I leaned over to Doug and said ‘you have to let it go’, your sister and dad will understand and prefer you come home safe. I find in these swims when every ounce of energy is depleted and you are mentally destroyed, you must help swimmers (who are in a depressed state) to make these decisions with little coaching comments and suggestions to allow them to come to the right (and safest) decision. We abandoned the swim within a 1/2 mile of shore but facing jagged black rock walls, 10-foot surf to come ashore and darkness once again.

Before we left, I reflected on some recent history which left an impression and one that would live up to its reputation. The tragic loss of Hawaiian big-wave rider and waterman Eddie Aikau in the Ka’iwi Channel during the 1978 Polynesian voyage of the Hokule’a sailing canoe added to the mystique and revered power of the channel. After gale force winds and 30-foot swells disabled the Hokule’a, Aikau left the ship on his rescue paddle board to seek help for his stranded crew mates. His body and board were never found. Paddling has been a part of Hawaiian heritage since early Polynesians navigated thousands of miles of open ocean guided by nothing more than currents, wind and stars. Double-hulled sailing canoes were used to cover longer distances and single-hull outrigger canoes covered shorter, inter-island distances.

I am sure we will be back and if mother nature allows, we will be standing on the Oahu shore.

Diana Nyad - Never Giving Up

Never Ever Give Up

My advice for living your healthiest, most fulfilling life—even if you’re not swimming across 110 miles of treacherous open ocean

By Diana Nyad ON LABOR DAY, 2013, I WALKED out of the sea onto Smathers Beach in Key West, becoming the first person ever to swim all the way across the Florida Straits from Cuba without a shark cage. It was a journey of 110.86 miles, and it took me 52 hours, 54 minutes. I was 64 years old at the time. Walking onto that Florida shore from Cuba didn’t become a reality until my fiſth try. I failed four times, and each of those attempts was public and each was crushing. I had put in hundreds of grueling, lonely training hours. A team of 44 people had sacrificed a great deal in the name of adventure, friendship and history. In the end, it was a 35-year saga of discovery, life lessons and grand experiences on an epic journey. Envision your dream and don’t give up until you get there, or at least get so close that your own effort inspires you.

The reason I was able to do something that many younger athletes had attempted and failed—myself included, back when I tried for the first time at age 28—is that I don’t believe in imposed limitations. Nobody knows the full power of the human spirit. If you are willing to accept the statistical parameters for your age, your gender, your economic situation, your whatever, you are flat-out saying you’re not interested in soaring toward your potential.

But we need to get real. The universe at times dishes out circumstances that even the toughest among us have to accept and come to terms with. My good friend, at the young age of 32, fought cancer of the worst kind with courage and not a drop of self-pity. But when the cancer in the end would not submit, my brave friend had to somehow find the grace to say good-bye to her children. We sometimes are dealt a tough road of physical and other kinds of disabilities. That’s when we still fight labels and yet somehow find elegance in determining what we can and can’t ultimately do.
Dreaming, reaching for stars and personal fulfillment are what drive the human spirit. I don’t wake up in the morning a middle-aged woman, a child of sexual abuse, a human rights activist, even though I am all of those things. I wake up a citizen of the world who refuses to let this cherished life slip quietly by. Don’t tell me I can’t touch the stars, because I just may get there one day. And on my way I’ll be tapping down into the deep well of all I can be.

Don’t Fear Failure ...

The debate about the journey versus the destination has raged for all time. Is the journey a worthy road to travel? What if you never touch that dream star of yours? I may have tried dozens of times more and never successfully completed the Cuba Swim, but I had come to peace with feeling that the journey itself was noble and worth taking, even if I never reached the destination.

During that last year of training in 2013, I kept on my desk that famous Teddy Roosevelt quote about not wanting to be a timid soul. To paraphrase, Roosevelt says he would rather be the guy in the ring who gets bloody and dirty and falls and fails over and over again. Far better, he says, to be bold and fail than to be a timid soul who is afraid and never tries at all.

Dazed when I stumbled onto that beach aſter more than two days of nonstop swimming, the first words I uttered through swollen lips were: “Never ever give up.”
I was living proof that to be fierce in your convictions, to refuse to give up on your dreams, allows you to stand tall, with no regrets that you have not lived out everything in your being.

There were thousands of screaming people on that beach to greet me. They weren’t swimming fans or even sports fans. They were people just like you and me, who fully understand and thirst to live inspired lives, who grasp that perseverance is the key to all success and fulfillment.

... And Never Let Age Define You

I truly believe that the key to well-being, aſter physical health and vitality, of course, is the drive to summon your spirit for something that moves you. Don’t let anybody else’s limitations define you. Envision your dream and don’t give up until you get there, or at least get so close that your own effort inspires you.
By the way, the second thing I said on that beach that day was: “You’re never too old to chase your dreams.”

Today, at 65, I am undoubtedly at the center of the prime of my life. As an athlete, a world-class athlete at that, I am stronger, fitter, more focused, more capable today than I was when setting records for such endurance marks as the fastest to swim around Manhattan Island at the age of 25, 40 long (or short) years ago.

Perhaps we can all of us agree that we mature and evolve for the better in all kinds of ways as we age. We have more perspective; the clock ticking exponentially faster year by year makes us want to grab on to our precious days, one by one. Our sense of appreciation for life and this beautiful blue jewel Planet Earth heightens. So it’s easy to understand an emotional and psychological prime at 65—for athletes and nonathletes alike.

Make this the prime of your life, whatever age you are, whatever life circumstances you find yourself in. It’s a one-way street we’re all traveling, each and every one of us. What a shame not to take this one walkthrough of ours with great gusto. It’s up to each of us to find a way toward whatever shore looms in our dreams.

Widely known as one of the world’s greatest endurance athletes, Diana Nyad inspired millions at 64 with the record-breaking swim from Cuba to Florida described in this essay. Previous feats include circling Manhattan and swimming 102 miles from the Bahamas to Florida.
Her next challenge? Getting a million people to join her planned journey across America—called The Walk—to draw attention to obesity and related illnesses and to help create social change. Her latest book, a memoir called Find a Way: The Diana Nyad Story: One Wild and Precious Life, will be published this fall.

In February she launched a one-woman show, Onward!, in Key West. Diana will tour her stage show around the country and, as we have come to expect, has ambitions to hit the big time—Broadway. For more on Diana, visit diananyad.com.

Exert from Merril Lynch Article

Touch the Wall Swimming Movie Screening

On the evening of Saturday August 4, 2012, 17 year-old Missy Franklin won her fourth Gold medal of the London Olympic Games when she swam the backstroke leg of the women’s 4×100 medley relay.  It was Missy’s second world record of the Olympic games; it was her 5th Olympic medal.

It was a crowning moment for swimming’s brightest new star and end of a chapter of her marvelous journey.

That Saturday was also the end of her teammate Kara Lynn Joyce’s long and productive Olympic career.  And though she finished with four Silver medals, just making it to her third Olympics was her greatest accomplishment.

The fortunes of Missy and Kara – and that of their coach, Todd Schmitz – are the stories of Touch the Wall.

Missy’s story is becoming known – an all-American teenager who, when she’s not dominating her competition in the pool can be found doing her homework, hanging out with her friends, or just having fun at whatever she’s doing.  And she possibly might just be the nicest person on the planet.

As for Kara, she finished her college career as one of the most decorated female swimmers.  She has long had the reputation as one of the sport’s hardest workers … and most respected athletes.

Somewhat unexpectedly, they both made the Olympics, and Missy had a phenomenal start to her Olympic career as she won 4 golds and a bronze.

Touch the Wall is the story of how these two amazing women and their coach got to where they are.  It’s a story of winning and losing, of commitment, and of triumph through adversity.  It’s also a story of family, of loving what you do, and having fun with the people around you.

In a world starved for heroes, Missy and Kara stand tall in Touch the Wall.

Event:             Touch the Wall movie screening

Place:              Barrington Area Library – Meeting Room

505 N. Northwest highway
Barrington, IL 60010

Dates:             Friday, January 30, at 6:30 p.m.

                       Saturday, January 31, at 9:00 a.m.

Admission:    $5 per person donation to the BAM and BSC

Hosts:            Barrington Area Masters

                       Barrington Swim Club

The Greatest Gift of All - saving Someone's Life

In the New Year  Learn How to save someones life  Learn How to Perform CPR 2012, Triathlete dies in NY swim. As athletes we rarely consider this will happen to ourselves much less someone we know know or a fellow competitor. I can assure you it does, and when you least expect it and sometimes from the fittest people. Do you know how to perform CPR, use a defibrillator? I did not.  Try this video and see what you think. You may just save a life....  We have all walked by the Red Cross sign in malls, schools and airports indicating where a heart machine is located, learn to use one and maybe pay it forward.  Link: http://www.heartrescuenow.com/

Fatal Arrhythmias in Open Water Swimming

Fatal Arrhythmia's in Open Water Swimming: What's the Mechanism?

Reprinted from Lawrence L. Creswell, M.D.

Introduction by Don Macdonald: I recently had a sudden cardiac event, collapsed, received life saving help immediately and found to have arrhythmia problems perhaps brought on by exercise, Well I survived and now find myself with an implanted ICD to prevent such future events. I was running, which I jokingly say was the problem, instead of swimming. I think ICD stands for "I Can't Die".

However my experience now takes me down a path relatively untraveled since only about 1% of such incidents leave survivor's. So onto the next chapter of my swimming journey just One Stroke At A Time.

Cardiac rehab has me exercising already and I am hopeful to return to the pool in the near future.

We've talked previously here at the blog about the general issue of sports-related sudden cardiac death (SCD).  And we've also talked about the specific issue of swimming fatalities during triathlons and open water swims.

But what triggers a sudden, fatal arrhythmia during open water swimming?

The answer isn't known and perhaps it will never be known with certainty.  But a recent report from a group of scientists in the U.K., though, suggests a very plausible mechanism.  Their idea is worth considering.


What's been learned from studies on runners?

As I've mentioned previously here at the blog, sports-related SCD has been best studied in the setting of long-distance running events.  Last year, Dr. Kim and colleagues in Boston reported on a decade-long study of runners with race-related SCD [1].  These investigators found that fatalities during marathons are not distributed uniformly along the race distance.  Instead, they predominate during the final 3 miles or so.  And interestingly, fatalities during half marathon events also predominate during the closing miles.  But why?

In the running population, we know from autopsy studies that the majority of victims have some sort of (often previously unknown) heart disease.  And something happens during the closing miles of the race.  In the words of the investigators, their "findings suggest that demand ischemia (i.e., ischemia due to an imbalance between oxygen supply and demand) may be operative in exercise-related acute coronary events during long-distance running races."  The leading hypothesis is that this mismatch in blood (or oxygen) supply and demand in the heart occurs when the runner picks up the pace, producing an adrenaline surge and increased physiologic demands on the heart, once the finish line is mentally within sight.

Based on this hypothesis, the International Marathon Medical Directors Association issued an advisory in March, 2010 that recommended, among other things, that athletes "not sprint the last part of the race unless you have practiced this in your training."

The concept here is that a susceptible heart (in a susceptible athlete) is triggered at a particular moment in the race to have a fatal arrhythmia because of a specific trigger.  The surge hypothesis might not explain all running race-related deaths, but is a plausible explanation for the physiology behind the majority of the deaths that occur late in a race.

It's very likely that the same concept is in play in triathlon-related sudden cardiac death.


What's going on in triathlon?

In triathlon, athletes have died at any point during the race--from the first few strokes of the swim through the final strides of the run.  And a couple athletes have collapsed with SCD even a few hours after the finish.  But the majority of deaths have occurred during the swim.  USA Triathlon issued a report last year that summarizes these facts.

What might be the trigger for sudden cardiac arrest during the swim portion of a triathlon?

Recently, two researchers in the U.K.--Michael Shattock and Michael Tipton--have offered a new hypothesis that they have labeled autonomic conflict [2,3]

To understand their hypothesis, we first need to talk for a moment about some features of the heart's physiology.


Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Influences

One component of our nervous system is called the autonomic system.  This portion of the nervous system is involuntary, responding to internal and external stimuli below the level of our consciousness.  The autonomic nervous system has 2 different divisions--the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.  Each of these divisions can operate independently, often with opposite effects on the body's organs, including the heart.

We often think of the sympathetic nervous system as being excitatory--providing the so-called "fight or flight" response.  When activated, the sympathetic nervous system has several effects on the heart:  an increase in heart rate, vasodilation of the coronary arteries (leading to more blood flow), and increased contractility (contraction strength) of the heart muscle.  And importantly for athletes, activation of the sympathetic nervous system also increases the blood flow to the skeletal muscles, decreases blood flow to the abdominal organs, and opens up the airways of the lungs.

In contrast, the parasympathetic nervous system has an inhibitory effect on the heart, acting to restore a baseline heart rate after sympathetic activation and by slowing electrical conduction in the specialized areas of the heart's electrical system known as the sino-atrial (SA) node and the atrio-ventricular (AV) node.  In well-trained endurance athletes, the parasympathetic nervous system is often highly developed, and is one cause of a very low resting heart rate.


A Hypothesis

Drs. Shattock and Tipton have proposed a mechanism where sudden activation or sudden increase in activation of both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems can produce a fatal arrhythmia.  This idea is supported by studies in isolated hearts as well as in healthy volunteers.

Let's say that an athlete's heart might be predisposed to an arrhythmia because of one or more anatomic or physiologic conditions such as:  congenital or inherited long QT syndrome, coronary artery disease, myocardial hypertrophy, ischemic heart disease, or pathologic hypertrophy (eg, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy).

During an open water swim, an athlete's sympathetic nervous system is activated because of physical exertion, (relatively) cold water temperature, anxiety, or even anxiety or overcompetitiveness.  The parasympathetic nervous system is activated because of facial wetting, water entering the mouth, nose, and pharynx, and extended breath holding--and particularly so, just at the moment of breaking a breath hold.  At that very moment, there can be maximal parasympathetic activation.

These scientists suggest that this autonomic conflict--between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems--is what triggers a sudden, potentially fatal arrhythmia.


It's Plausible

This is a plausible hypothesis.  It fits with the observations that have been made on victims of sudden cardiac death during open water swimming.  And it fits with the general concept of a susceptible heart and an arrhythmia trigger that seems to be in play in victims of SCD in other sports.



References

1.  Kim JH et al.  Cardiac arrest during long-distance running races.  N Engl J Med 2012;366:130-140.

2. Shattock MJ, Tipton MJ.  'Autonomic conflict':  a different way todiedu  ring cold water immersion?  J Physiol 2012;590:3219-3230.

3.  Tipton MJ.  Sudden cardiac death during openwater  swimming.  Br J Sports Med 2013. Online in advance.


Related Posts

1. Sports-relatd sudden cardiac death in the general population

2. Athletes, sudden death, and CPR