Another HCM related death: swimmer with HCM drowned

[Tim Stewart]

[code] The Associated Press State & Local Wire

The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These
materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press.

March 6, 2003, Thursday, BC cycle

12:19 AM Eastern Time

SECTION: Sports News

LENGTH: 486 words

HEADLINE: Autopsy: swimmer with heart condition drowned

BYLINE: By JAYMES SONG, AP Sports Writer

DATELINE: HONOLULU

BODY:
A University of Hawaii freshman swimmer who drowned during practice suffered
from a heart condition, an autopsy revealed Wednesday.

Mike Sheldt, 18, had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disorder of the heart
muscle that generally includes enlargement of the heart and a thickening of the
walls of the left ventricle, the city medical examiner's office said.

The disorder was a "contributing factor" in his drowning Tuesday, the office
said.

Coach Mike Anderson and team physician Dr. Andrew Nichols said they had not
been aware Sheldt had any medical problems. They were also unaware of any drugs
or supplements he might have been taking, noting that there are rigorous NCAA
guidelines.

"All the kids are required to undergo a thorough screening with our medical
staff before the season starts," Anderson said. "Both a long, involved
questionnaire and a regular physical with a doctor. And there was nothing that
indicated, at that time, any preexisting conditions."

Sheldt is the first Hawaii athlete to die during practice or an event in at
least 30 years.

Teammates pulled Sheldt, of Charlotte, N.C., from the bottom of the pool at
the school's Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex and attempted to resuscitate him.
He was taken to Straub Clinic & Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

"The training partner noticed he'd gone down," athletic director Herman
Frazier said. "I had heard perhaps 15 seconds or so and we reacted and responded
as quickly as possible."

Nichols said a portable defibrillator was also used in the attempt to revive
Sheldt. Nichols would not comment on Sheldt's vital signs.

"Certainly we had no indication that he had any type of serious ongoing
problem that predisposed him to these tragic conditions," he said.

There were more than 20 people in or around the pool during the incident.
Frazier said safety precautions were followed "by the book."

School officials have counseled Sheldt's grieving teammates, who practiced
Wednesday.

"This is what Mike would've wanted - is his teammates to go on without him,"
Anderson said. "It's with a broken heart and a lot of sadness. Our kids and our
coaches, we're showing some cracks, but we're not broken and we're going to go
on."

Sheldt swam in the 200 and 400 individual medleys and was one of Hawaii's
rising stars.

"I knew Mike well and he was a promising young athlete and scholar,"
university President Evan Dobelle said. "His loss is personally devastating to
me, and I am struggling to make sense of a situation that has no explanation."

In high school, Sheldt was a state champion swimmer in North Carolina and a
member of the National Honor Society.

"We are all shocked. We are all numb from the loss of Mike Sheldt," Anderson
said. "He loved Hawaii and loved being with our team. Loved to surf. Loved to
swim. And loved his teammates."

Sheldt's parents arrived in Honolulu on Wednesday evening.

LOAD-DATE: March 6, 2003[/code]

[SharonBates]

Thank you for posting this Tim.

My prayers are with Mike Sheldt and his family. May God Bless Mike and be with his family and the University of Hawaii and his swim team as they greave his loss.

Love and Light,
Sharon

[Tim Stewart]

More ...

[code] 1 of 3 DOCUMENTS

Copyright 2003 The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, HI)
All Rights Reserved
The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, HI)

March 8, 2003 Saturday

SECTION: SPORTS; Pg. 1D

LENGTH: 1132 words

HEADLINE: Swimmer's parents appreciate support

BYLINE: Masuoka Brandon, Staff

BODY:
UH swim team honors late Sheldt during meet

By Brandon Masuoka, ADVERTISER STAFF WRITER

In the first swimming event since the drowning of 18-year-old University of
Hawai'i swimmer Mike Sheldt, his parents yesterday thanked everyone for the
outpouring of support for their son.

Sheldt, of Charlotte, N.C., had an undetected heart problem that likely
caused him to lose consciousness and drown at the start of practice on Tuesday
at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex pool, according to the medical examiner.

It was the first death of a UH athlete in practice or in competition in at
least 30 years, school officials said.

Yesterday, Sheldt's parents, Mike and Shawnee, hugged each other as the
Hawai'i swim team honored their son at a qualifying meet with a moment of
silence, a convocation by the Rev. Sherman Thompson, a Hawaiian chant and the
release of colored doves that represented Sheldt's free spirit.

The swim team also left a swimming lane vacant during the events Sheldt would
have competed in.

"We have been amazed by the outpouring of the aloha spirit," said Shawnee
Sheldt. "I'm not just talking about the swim team, or just from the university
community. This hospitality and the warmth has meant so much and has been so
helpful. It just makes us smile."

Dozens of well-wishers have posted messages on a website organized by
Sheldt's former swim club, the Mecklenburg Aquatic Club (N.C.). The majority of
the messages - some from lovestruck girls - talked about Sheldt's good looks,
his athletic talents and his character.

"He was always happy with a smile on his face," said Hawai'i sophomore
teammate Nick Cabebe. "Whenever somebody was down, he would just crack a joke
and make everybody smile. He always led the team in cheers."

Hawai'i swim coach Mike Anderson called Sheldt an intense competitor, a
friend and a true waterman who swam and surfed. In his tribute to Sheldt,
Anderson urged the more than 100 people at the pool to honor Sheldt and "swim
hard, compete well, and to yourself be true." He ended his speech with, "Let's
roll."

Sheldt drowned after he fainted from an undetected heart problem, said Dr.
William Goodhue, the first deputy medical examiner who performed the autopsy on
Sheldt.

University of Hawai'i Athletic Director Herman Frazier said he was told
Sheldt was underwater for "15 seconds or so" before being pulled from the pool.

Gone too early in life

Goodhue said Sheldt suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a primary
disease of the heart muscle, and one of the most common causes of sudden
unexplained death in young athletes during or after physical exertion.

Goodhue said people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are susceptible to
cardiac arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, which can cause brief loss of
consciousness. He said Sheldt likely sustained an irregular heartbeat while in
the water, lost consciousness, and drowned.

"If he had this fainting episode outside of the water, it is possible that
the irregularity might have been severe enough that he would have died
nonetheless," Goodhue said. "On the other hand, if the irregularity only
resulted in transient fainting it is possible he may not have died because he
would have been breathing air."

Goodhue, who classified Sheldt's death as accidental, said sudden death may
be the first sign of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Goodhue said the final autopsy
report is pending additional laboratory and tissue studies and should be
completed within several weeks.

Dr. Robert Hong, a cardiologist at The Queen's Medical Center, said anyone
who is going into competitive athletics, who has a history of passing out, chest
pain and progressive shortness of breath, should be seen by a doctor.

Preventing similar cases

He said usually the evaluation would include doing a electrocardiogram, or an
electrical monitor, and may include a soundwave study of the heart, called an
echocardiogram, to figure out where the heart has thickened.

When asked if additional medical screening should be done for athletes, Hong
said there are differing opinions that take into consideration costs and other
concerns.

Sheldt passed his physical examination and pre-participation physical before
the season, he did not exhibit any signs of a heart problem, and appeared to be
in top shape, UH officials said.

"There's four million high school athletes and 500,000 college athletes,"
Hong said. "If you do an echo study on all of them that could potentially be a
problem; in terms of cost factors, somebody would have to end up paying for it."

Another problem is, according to Hong, if you subject everyone through
overkill screening measures, "you may land up doing invasive procedures or
potentially dangerous things for people who don't have any underlying heart
conditions."

Hong said new technology is being investigated with handheld echo cardio
devices capable of performing mass screenings on athletes, but that's far from
being a standard.

"Even among the experts with the most experience in sports medicine, there's
disagreement on how much routine screening should be done on athletes," Hong
said.

Frazier said the school does not plan on changing the current physical
examination policy that adheres to national standards.

"As far as we're concerned, our physicals are done similar to every other
institution like ours throughout the country, and we will continue to do that,"
Frazier said. "It is very, very sad for us to have to go through this. But I
think in light of everything we've seen, in any kind of physical, (Sheldt's
condition) would not have been detected unless you knew there was a history of
heart problems."

Satisfied with current policy

Some of the Hawai'i athletes and former athletes yesterday said they were
satisfied with the current physical examinations and trusted the UH medical
staff to detect problems.

"I would think (the examinations) are adequate," former University of Hawai'i
football player Vince Manuwai said. "It's going to come down to the players to
tell the doctors (their ailments)."

Added Cabebe: "They're pretty much doing a good job. They check every little
thing. They check your pulse, your heart rate, everything. It's pretty much an
all-day physical."

Rainbow basketball player Michael Kuebler said he hoped the physical
examinations would detect problems, but he said he couldn't know for certain.

"I don't really know what to say about the tests, because the same situation
has happened in professional sports," Kuebler said. "It happened to (Reggie
Lewis) from the Celtics. And I'm sure they do testing three times as much.

"I really don't know what's adequate to be honest with you," Kuebler added.
"I really don't know what is a thorough examination. You just do what
(physicians) tell you to do."

GRAPHIC: UH swim coach Mike Anderson, left, and athletic director Herman Frazier
discuss Mike Sheldt's untimely death. ADVERTISER LIBRARY PHOTO * March 5, 2003

LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2003

2 of 3 DOCUMENTS

Copyright 2003 The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, HI)
All Rights Reserved
The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, HI)

March 6, 2003 Thursday

SECTION: SPORTS; Pg. 1D

LENGTH: 545 words

HEADLINE: Swimmer's death linked to heart

BYLINE: Masuoka Brandon, Staff

BODY:
UH says Sheldt passed physicals, was in 'top' shape

By Brandon Masuoka, ADVERTISER STAFF WRITER

An undetected heart problem led to the drowning of an 18-year-old University
of Hawai'i swimmer Tuesday afternoon at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex pool,
the chief medical examiner said yesterday.

Freshman Mike Sheldt, of Charlotte, N.C., was rushed to Straub Hospital after
he was found by a teammate submerged in 5 feet of water at the start of practice
on Tuesday. Sheldt was pronounced dead at Straub.

An autopsy yesterday revealed that Sheldt drowned and that the contributing
cause was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or an enlarged heart, Honolulu chief
medical examiner Dr. Kanthi Von Guenthner said.

"While he was in the water, he may have had an irregular heart rhythm," Von
Guenthner said. "An enlarged heart can lead to sudden death, but it's not
something that's very common."

Dr. Andrew Nichols, the UH athletic department's physician, yesterday said
Sheldt had passed a battery of physical exams, had not reported any adverse
medical history to the school and appeared to be in top shape.

Sheldt passed his physical examination and pre-participation physical before
the season and did not exhibit any signs of a heart problem, Nichols said.

"Had there been findings in a physical examination that are suggestive of a
congenital heart condition that is known to cause sudden cardiac death, we
wouldn't clear him to play," Nichols said.

In the physical exams, student athletes are asked about potential symptoms of
heart conditions that are known to cause sudden death in young people, Nichols
said. The medical screening also focuses on identifying physical traits that
could lead to problems in the future, Nichols said.

Sheldt's death was the first of a UH athlete during a practice or competition
in at least 30 years, UH officials said.

At a press conference yesterday, Nichols and swim coach Mike Anderson said
Sheldt appeared to be in good health.

"He was in top physical condition," Anderson said. "He competed in the 400
individual medley, which is one of the most brutal events in swimming."

Anderson said Sheldt has been training hard for about 10 years.

"He passed our physical examination to participate, and he's obviously passed
previous physical examinations to participate in sports at the high school
level," Nichols said. "Certainly we had no indication that he had any type of
serious ongoing problem."

UH athletic director Herman Frazier said he was told that Sheldt was
underwater for "15 seconds or so" before being spotted by a teammate and pulled
from the water.

"We reacted and responded as quickly as possible," Frazier said.

Anderson said about 27 people were in the pool Tuesday, watched by four
assistant coaches and a pool manager.

"We try to lower our coach-to-athlete ratio to as low as we can possibly get
it. The coverage was superb," said Anderson, who was on the Mainland at the time
of the tragedy.

Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are at higher risk for sudden death
than the normal population, and can be affected at a young age, according to the
National Institutes of Health Web site.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a well-publicized cause of sudden death in
athletes, the site said.

GRAPHIC: Mike Sheldt, upper left, enjoys a happy moment with teammates from
Myers Park High in North Carolina. A former coach said Sheldt longed to go to
Hawai'i "where he could combine his passion for competitive swimming and his
love for surfing."courtesy Mimi Goudes; UH swim coach Mike Anderson, left, and
athletic director Herman Frazier answer questions surrounding the death of Mike
Sheldt. GREGORY YAMAMOTO * The Honolulu Advertiser

LOAD-DATE: March 7, 2003

3 of 3 DOCUMENTS

Copyright 2003 The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, HI)
All Rights Reserved
The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, HI)

March 6, 2003 Thursday

SECTION: SPORTS; Pg. 1D

LENGTH: 647 words

HEADLINE: Hawai'i a paradise for N. Carolina surfer

BYLINE: Masuoka Brandon, Staff

BODY:
By Brandon Masuoka, ADVERTISER STAFF WRITER

As a competitive swimmer for more than 10 years, Mike Sheldt drove himself to
succeed with the same heart that would eventually take his life.

Sheldt, an 18-year-old University of Hawai'i freshman, died after he was
found submerged at the bottom of Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex pool at the
start of practice on Tuesday. An autopsy revealed that Sheldt drowned and that
the contributing cause was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or an enlarged heart.

Yesterday, coaches remembered the wavy-haired surfer as someone who never
gave less than 100 percent effort and never met a teammate or person he didn't
like.

"He was a very positive young man who worked super hard," UH swimming coach
Mike Anderson said. "He was always smiling and trying to get his teammates up.
He was a very good student as well."

This week, Sheldt, was preparing to post a qualifying time at the Last Chance
meet at UH tomorrow through Sunday. The team will compete at the meet.

"He competed in the 400 individual medley, which is one of the most brutal
events in swimming," Anderson said.

Sheldt was in the team's top five for the 200 fly (2:09.34, 5th), 100
individual medley (55.81, 2nd), 200 individual medley (1:56.92, 5th), 400
individual medley (4:12.59, 3rd), 1650 free (17:18.80, 3rd), 50 breaststroke
(1:00.42, 4th), 200 breaststroke (2:14.31, 4th) and 50 fly (24.48, 4th).

Mimi Goudes, who coached Sheldt for his final three seasons at Myers Park
High School in North Carolina, called him a people magnet.

"He had a smile that could light up a room," Goudes said. "He was a beautiful
person and not just simply good looking. He had such a good heart and good soul.
He made friends pretty easily."

As a team captain of Myers Park, Sheldt led by example and never exhibited
any health problems during swimming, Goudes said.

"To be real honest, I don't remember the kid getting the sniffles," Goudes
said of the state champion. "He was almost always healthy. I don't remember him
ever getting sick.

"He was such a leader, he would make people want to follow him," Goudes
continued. "Teammates always seemed to do very well around him because he gave
110 percent. You had to swim your best to keep up with him."

The only thing Sheldt loved more than swimming was surfing, coaches said.

That was one of the reasons why Sheldt fell in love with Hawai'i, said
Mecklenburg Aquatic Club (N.C.) coach Patty Waldron, who coached Sheldt when he
was 14.

"Two words: surf's up," said Waldron when asked why Sheldt came to Hawai'i.
"It was some place where he could combine his passion for competitive swimming
and his love for surfing. He wanted to go there more than anything in the
world."

Sheldt rarely missed practice, but when he did, Waldron knew where to find
him.

"He would go to Wilmington, N.C., to try a little bit of surfing," Waldron
said. "That was his real passion."

UH president Evan Dobelle said: "I knew Mike well and he was a promising
young athlete and scholar. His loss is personally devastating to me and I am
struggling to make sense of a situation that has no explanation. I would like to
extend my deepest condolences to his family, friends, fellow students and
teammates."

A moment of silence was held before last night's UH volleyball match and the
same will be done at the basketball game today, UH athletic director Herman
Frazier said. The swimming team will also honor Sheldt by dedicating the rest of
the season to him, Anderson said.

"This has been a very difficult time for the institution, specifically for
our student-athletes on the swim team," Frazier said. "I told the team earlier
today that in 25 years of being involved in athletic administration, there's
really no manual on how to deal with this type of tragedy."

Sheldt is survived by a younger sister, Mikaela, and parents, Mike and
Shawnee.

LOAD-DATE: March 7, 2003
[/code]

[Tim Stewart]

[code] Copyright 2003 The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, HI)
All Rights Reserved
The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, HI)

March 8, 2003 Saturday

SECTION: SPORTS; Pg. 1D

LENGTH: 1132 words

HEADLINE: Swimmer's parents appreciate support

BYLINE: Masuoka Brandon, Staff

BODY:
UH swim team honors late Sheldt during meet

By Brandon Masuoka, ADVERTISER STAFF WRITER

In the first swimming event since the drowning of 18-year-old University of
Hawai'i swimmer Mike Sheldt, his parents yesterday thanked everyone for the
outpouring of support for their son.

Sheldt, of Charlotte, N.C., had an undetected heart problem that likely
caused him to lose consciousness and drown at the start of practice on Tuesday
at Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex pool, according to the medical examiner.

It was the first death of a UH athlete in practice or in competition in at
least 30 years, school officials said.

Yesterday, Sheldt's parents, Mike and Shawnee, hugged each other as the
Hawai'i swim team honored their son at a qualifying meet with a moment of
silence, a convocation by the Rev. Sherman Thompson, a Hawaiian chant and the
release of colored doves that represented Sheldt's free spirit.

The swim team also left a swimming lane vacant during the events Sheldt would
have competed in.

"We have been amazed by the outpouring of the aloha spirit," said Shawnee
Sheldt. "I'm not just talking about the swim team, or just from the university
community. This hospitality and the warmth has meant so much and has been so
helpful. It just makes us smile."

Dozens of well-wishers have posted messages on a website organized by
Sheldt's former swim club, the Mecklenburg Aquatic Club (N.C.). The majority of
the messages - some from lovestruck girls - talked about Sheldt's good looks,
his athletic talents and his character.

"He was always happy with a smile on his face," said Hawai'i sophomore
teammate Nick Cabebe. "Whenever somebody was down, he would just crack a joke
and make everybody smile. He always led the team in cheers."

Hawai'i swim coach Mike Anderson called Sheldt an intense competitor, a
friend and a true waterman who swam and surfed. In his tribute to Sheldt,
Anderson urged the more than 100 people at the pool to honor Sheldt and "swim
hard, compete well, and to yourself be true." He ended his speech with, "Let's
roll."

Sheldt drowned after he fainted from an undetected heart problem, said Dr.
William Goodhue, the first deputy medical examiner who performed the autopsy on
Sheldt.

University of Hawai'i Athletic Director Herman Frazier said he was told
Sheldt was underwater for "15 seconds or so" before being pulled from the pool.

Gone too early in life

Goodhue said Sheldt suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a primary
disease of the heart muscle, and one of the most common causes of sudden
unexplained death in young athletes during or after physical exertion.

Goodhue said people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are susceptible to
cardiac arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, which can cause brief loss of
consciousness. He said Sheldt likely sustained an irregular heartbeat while in
the water, lost consciousness, and drowned.

"If he had this fainting episode outside of the water, it is possible that
the irregularity might have been severe enough that he would have died
nonetheless," Goodhue said. "On the other hand, if the irregularity only
resulted in transient fainting it is possible he may not have died because he
would have been breathing air."

Goodhue, who classified Sheldt's death as accidental, said sudden death may
be the first sign of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Goodhue said the final autopsy
report is pending additional laboratory and tissue studies and should be
completed within several weeks.

Dr. Robert Hong, a cardiologist at The Queen's Medical Center, said anyone
who is going into competitive athletics, who has a history of passing out, chest
pain and progressive shortness of breath, should be seen by a doctor.

Preventing similar cases

He said usually the evaluation would include doing a electrocardiogram, or an
electrical monitor, and may include a soundwave study of the heart, called an
echocardiogram, to figure out where the heart has thickened.

When asked if additional medical screening should be done for athletes, Hong
said there are differing opinions that take into consideration costs and other
concerns.

Sheldt passed his physical examination and pre-participation physical before
the season, he did not exhibit any signs of a heart problem, and appeared to be
in top shape, UH officials said.

"There's four million high school athletes and 500,000 college athletes,"
Hong said. "If you do an echo study on all of them that could potentially be a
problem; in terms of cost factors, somebody would have to end up paying for it."

Another problem is, according to Hong, if you subject everyone through
overkill screening measures, "you may land up doing invasive procedures or
potentially dangerous things for people who don't have any underlying heart
conditions."

Hong said new technology is being investigated with handheld echo cardio
devices capable of performing mass screenings on athletes, but that's far from
being a standard.

"Even among the experts with the most experience in sports medicine, there's
disagreement on how much routine screening should be done on athletes," Hong
said.

Frazier said the school does not plan on changing the current physical
examination policy that adheres to national standards.

"As far as we're concerned, our physicals are done similar to every other
institution like ours throughout the country, and we will continue to do that,"
Frazier said. "It is very, very sad for us to have to go through this. But I
think in light of everything we've seen, in any kind of physical, (Sheldt's
condition) would not have been detected unless you knew there was a history of
heart problems."

Satisfied with current policy

Some of the Hawai'i athletes and former athletes yesterday said they were
satisfied with the current physical examinations and trusted the UH medical
staff to detect problems.

"I would think (the examinations) are adequate," former University of Hawai'i
football player Vince Manuwai said. "It's going to come down to the players to
tell the doctors (their ailments)."

Added Cabebe: "They're pretty much doing a good job. They check every little
thing. They check your pulse, your heart rate, everything. It's pretty much an
all-day physical."

Rainbow basketball player Michael Kuebler said he hoped the physical
examinations would detect problems, but he said he couldn't know for certain.

"I don't really know what to say about the tests, because the same situation
has happened in professional sports," Kuebler said. "It happened to (Reggie
Lewis) from the Celtics. And I'm sure they do testing three times as much.

"I really don't know what's adequate to be honest with you," Kuebler added.
"I really don't know what is a thorough examination. You just do what
(physicians) tell you to do."

GRAPHIC: UH swim coach Mike Anderson, left, and athletic director Herman Frazier
discuss Mike Sheldt's untimely death. ADVERTISER LIBRARY PHOTO * March 5, 2003

LOAD-DATE: March 10, 2003
[/code]

[Lisa Salberg]

God Bless Mike. I do hope his family was advised to be screened.
Our hearts break for their loss.
Best wishes to his family and friends,
Lisa Salberg
President