Air Quality Issues Make Swimmers Sick at Central Zone Championships
Over the weekend, numerous swimmers competing at USA Swimming’s Central Zone Championships in Lexera, Kan., became ill because of air quality issues inside the Shawnee Mission Aquatic Center. Issues with the pool water’s chemistry and poor ventilation created an unhealthy environment inside the facility that resulted in multiple swimmer hospitalizations and multiple stoppages of competition.
A source told Swimming World that an ambulance was called to the facility Friday to take two swimmers to a hospital. A report from FOX 4 Kansas City states that swimmers’ symptoms included “struggling to breathe, throwing up, burning eyes and passing out,” and the video footage from the station showed parents and swimmers sitting outside of the aquatic center, only entering the building when it was their time to swim.
“We should be inside, but the air quality is so freaking bad. You can’t be inside, the kids can’t be inside, we can’t be inside, because people are getting sick and passing out,” a parent told the FOX affiliate.
Age Group Zone Championships include all-star teams from various LSCs competing, and this one featured Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri Valley, Midwestern, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ozark and South Dakota. The team representing Iowa completely pulled out due to safety concerns, with coaches remaining for any swimmer who still wished to compete with parental consent.
Testimony from the swimmers in television interviews gave a sense for the unfavorable conditions they were facing for an important meet. One said, “I feel like once I get out of the water, I still can’t breathe.” From a second swimmer, “The air is so thick.” Finally, one said, “We’ve put so much energy and practice, and we’re going like six or seven times a week to swim, and to have our season end at a pool we’re not going to get best times at is just super disappointing.”
I feel for these swimmers. We had something similar happen to Age Group LC States in AZ because a team thought it was a great idea to hold the championship at 7000 ft altitude and then on Saturday they had to shock the pool from all the kids throwing up which then lead to kids having a hard time breathing as well. These kids put in so much effort to reach their goals and dreams only to be sidelined by other thing’s completely out of their control. They all should have shirts made saying I survived Central Zones LC 2023