By Anika Krishnan
Scriptor
Wylie E Groves HS
1st Place
Division 3, News Writing
Environmental, Health or Science
Sophomore Kiran Krishnan stood, bracing herself against the wall as she hacked uncontrollably after swim practice on September 16. She gasped for air, trying to get oxygen into her lungs. Her chest was tight, her head was spinning. She looked around. Many of the swimmers were crying.
Krishnan knew why.
A number of swimmers on the team suffered from painful, sports induced asthma this year because the insulators stopped working, and the air is no longer cycling out the toxic gases from the pool, leaving the natatorium thick with fumes that scorch the swimmers’ throats as they practice and compete.
Senior Camille Rochaix, who swims freestyle and has finished consistently in first and second place during all of her meets, has had to frequently stop and take deep breathes and even had an asthma attack during practice because of the poor air quality.
“There’s not much you can do when someone is having an asthma attack and the problem with an asthma attack is that it gets worse. You first can’t breathe and then you start to panic and panicking makes it a lot worse to the point where you’re hyperventilating,” Rochaix said. “You can’t breathe, so you start to cough. You start feeling like you’re taking air in but nothing’s coming out and nothing’s doing anything.”
Head swim coach Ricky Forrest sympathized with Rochaix and other swimmers, not just those with sports induced asthma, but those who struggled this year because of the stifling, chemical filled air in the natatorium.
“When they’re swimming, a lot of the time the oxygen is not getting to their lungs and they are also inhaling a lot of chlorine. It definitely gets in the way and they cannot reach their highest potential,” Forrest said. “Sometimes the air quality is so bad that no matter if you have asthma or not it will be hard to breathe and even me who isn’t dipping my head in the water but just standing out on the deck it can be tough to breathe.”
Freshman Zoe Kissinger, who swims freestyle, described how swimmers’ performances were impacted when the pH levels for the chlorine reach higher than normal levels.
“It is very hard to breathe, which can affect the amount of oxygen, which is obviously gonna affect how you swim,” Kissinger said. “It makes it hard to swim because if it`s hard to breathe then you’re not really getting enough oxygen to perform well, so you can’t really go through the sets efficiently because you constantly have to stop and breathe.”
Kissinger added that swimmers immediately noticed the impact of the heavy chemicals in the air this year.
“It usually smells heavily of chlorine, but as soon you start swimming this year, the air started getting really thick,” Kissinger said. “It felt like you’re swallowing knives.”
Rochaix explained why the air felt like knives this year and how the chemicals normally present became dangerous because of the damaged air tubes.
“There’s this layer that is created on the surface of the pool. This is disgusting, but since people pee in the pool, there’s a gas layer that forms and sits on top of the water and when you’re swimming you’re inhaling all this gas and it causes health problems like asthma. That’s why I have sports-induced asthma,” Rochaix said. “We aren’t recycling the air this year, so
the gas stays in the pool and accumulates over time and stays there. The tubes at the top of ceiling are supposed to be inflated but they aren’t which means the insulators aren’t working and the air isn’t cycling.”
Rochaix and other swimmers dealt with this by trying to open the emergency door to get air through. This did not always help because, as it got colder going outside, this made them significantly colder than the humid air in the natatorium, causing a shock to their system.
“We end up freezing or really boiling. When we go outside we get yelled at because we aren’t supposed to open those doors, so lately what my coach has done is used blowers. All that does, though, is take the gas from on top of the water and just put into the rest of the air. It’s just circulating it, so we are not only breathing it when we’re swimming but also when we’re on deck resting,” Rochaix said. “There is nowhere to escape the fumes.”
Susie Demarco, mother of a swimmer senior captain Julia Demarco, was on the pool deck and experienced the air quality problems herself. Susie joined a group of parents to express concern about the air quality to athletic director Tom Flynn. After the meeting, Demarco sent an email to all parents and swimmers on the team to help them understand why the air quality was poor this year and how the problem was being addressed.
“He [Mr. Flynn] informed us that there are some aspects of the HVAC system that are not functioning at full capacity and are in need of repair,” Demarco wrote. “He assured us that the installation of an important compressor is set to begin today and he assured us the air quality will greatly improve once this compressor is installed and the system is working at 100%. As it stands, he said the system is working at 40%, therefore it is extremely warm on the pool deck and the air is heavy with the smell of chlorine.”
After Flynn heard from parents, he ensured new equipment was installed and increased workers to help keep the air filters working.
“We have just purchased and installed a new twenty thousand dollar air handler and have also hired a new pool technician for the district,” Flynn said.
Many swimmers did not notice a change.
“They were supposed to fix it over the summer, but they didn’t and it’s still an issue,” Rochaix said.
Sophomore Olivia Ruiz, who swims butterfly, and who also has sports induced asthma was dismayed to hear that the air filters had been fixed.
“I honestly can’t believe that they’ve fixed it, because air quality has definitely not improved,” Ruiz said.
Assistant coach Kyle Larson agreed that the air was still a problem for the swimmers’ lungs after the new installation.
“The air quality issue has definitely not been fixed, and many girls throughout the season have complained to me about having trouble breathing. Hopefully by the end of the season we will have the air quality fixed,” Larson said.
Forrest said the fumes not only affects the health of the swimmer but their time and performance.
“I think that with the bad air quality the swimmers can`t reach their highest potential. Also, when your body isn’t getting oxygen and your muscles aren’t getting oxygen that’s a waste of a practice because even though you’re swimming and you are in the pool, you aren’t reaping the benefits of training. And it might not set them up for success later in the year,” Forrest said.
Despite the loss of air quality, the girls swim and dive team finished with a record of 4-3 and multiple girls qualified for states.
“These girls have worked extremely hard this season despite the poor air quality,” Forrest said. “I hope that, when the air improves, they will be able to reach their higher potential and swim to their fullest capacity.”