Swimmers ill after meet; cause investigated
Maria Schmitt
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: Sports
Multiple Hillsdale College swimmers experienced sneezing, uncontrollable coughing and had difficulty breathing this month after a meet at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisc.
"The entire bus ride home was horrible," junior Kathryn Herrmann said. "I felt like I was in an infirmary. There were maybe two or three people who weren't sick."
Herrmann said she couldn't breathe after she swam her mile race Saturday morning, but may have been more susceptible because of asthma.
Swimmers said they heard the pool had been shocked with chlorine because of a staph infection scare at the college. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) caused the death of a teacher in Maryland Sunday.
But maintenance workers and athletic officials at Carthage said chlorine levels passed state inspection, and suggested ventilation problems as a more realistic cause for discomfort.
"We weren't getting enough fresh air in there," Carthage Aquatic Director and head men's swim coach Greg Earhart said. "There's not enough air through return vents. There's a lot of stale air sitting around."
Carthage maintenance crewman Bill Hoare said this week that the college continues to test air quality, in part due to request by Earhart. Experts from San Diego, St. Louis, and Wisconsin will check the entire pool arena for problems.
Hillsdale sophomore Cassie Nielsen said many team members started feeling sick on the bus ride home from the Carthage meet, held Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. Sophomore Elizabeth Heil said one of her coach's eyes watered all weekend. She said swimmers from other schools complained of feeling ill during the meet.
St. Cloud State University head swim coach Jeff Hegle said every time his team competes at Carthage they have difficulty breathing after their races.
"It's been like that in the past at Carthage," Hegle said.
He said the team's maladies did not affect their performance in the meet.
Hegle isn't sure what caused problems at the meet, but felt like it should be investigated.
"It's obvious there's something going on," he said.
Herrmann, a certified pool operator, said shocking the pool before a meet would be unsanitary.
Carthage women's head swim coach Sue Nutty said maintenance crews at the college, who maintain the pool, told her chlorine readings were fine before the meet.
"We follow what the state codes are," she said. "Our system is automatic. It reads it [the chlorine concentration level] and makes up for the lack so it stays at a constant level."
Nutty said the amount of chlorine in the pool must be a minimum of 1.0 parts per million.
She added that she noticed many people coughing throughout the weekend.
"We were kind of like: 'What is this about?'" she said.
She attributes the coughing to the high number of people who were in the arena.
"We have a huge facility," she said. "There were 360 competitors, which is a very large meet."
Hoare said the pool was tested by staff, the health department and "a third party," and that results he received the Monday after the meet showed that the pool's free chlorine range was within the state's guidelines. He said the pool is tested each day by hand.
Earhart complained of respiratory problems to Hoare Dec. 3, the Monday after the meet.
"He was concerned about air quality," Hoare said. "We are continuing to test."
Earhart said there could be air filtration problems in the pool arena but that Carthage does not have problems with chloramines in the pool.
"We had an independent company and the county check it out and they found that we were running clean," he said.
Posted on: 12/11/07 10:54 a.m.
Updated on: 12/11/07 4:38 p.m.
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
"The entire bus ride home was horrible," junior Kathryn Herrmann said. "I felt like I was in an infirmary. There were maybe two or three people who weren't sick."
Herrmann said she couldn't breathe after she swam her mile race Saturday morning, but may have been more susceptible because of asthma.
Swimmers said they heard the pool had been shocked with chlorine because of a staph infection scare at the college. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) caused the death of a teacher in Maryland Sunday.
But maintenance workers and athletic officials at Carthage said chlorine levels passed state inspection, and suggested ventilation problems as a more realistic cause for discomfort.
"We weren't getting enough fresh air in there," Carthage Aquatic Director and head men's swim coach Greg Earhart said. "There's not enough air through return vents. There's a lot of stale air sitting around."
Carthage maintenance crewman Bill Hoare said this week that the college continues to test air quality, in part due to request by Earhart. Experts from San Diego, St. Louis, and Wisconsin will check the entire pool arena for problems.
Hillsdale sophomore Cassie Nielsen said many team members started feeling sick on the bus ride home from the Carthage meet, held Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. Sophomore Elizabeth Heil said one of her coach's eyes watered all weekend. She said swimmers from other schools complained of feeling ill during the meet.
St. Cloud State University head swim coach Jeff Hegle said every time his team competes at Carthage they have difficulty breathing after their races.
"It's been like that in the past at Carthage," Hegle said.
He said the team's maladies did not affect their performance in the meet.
Hegle isn't sure what caused problems at the meet, but felt like it should be investigated.
"It's obvious there's something going on," he said.
Herrmann, a certified pool operator, said shocking the pool before a meet would be unsanitary.
Carthage women's head swim coach Sue Nutty said maintenance crews at the college, who maintain the pool, told her chlorine readings were fine before the meet.
"We follow what the state codes are," she said. "Our system is automatic. It reads it [the chlorine concentration level] and makes up for the lack so it stays at a constant level."
Nutty said the amount of chlorine in the pool must be a minimum of 1.0 parts per million.
She added that she noticed many people coughing throughout the weekend.
"We were kind of like: 'What is this about?'" she said.
She attributes the coughing to the high number of people who were in the arena.
"We have a huge facility," she said. "There were 360 competitors, which is a very large meet."
Hoare said the pool was tested by staff, the health department and "a third party," and that results he received the Monday after the meet showed that the pool's free chlorine range was within the state's guidelines. He said the pool is tested each day by hand.
Earhart complained of respiratory problems to Hoare Dec. 3, the Monday after the meet.
"He was concerned about air quality," Hoare said. "We are continuing to test."
Earhart said there could be air filtration problems in the pool arena but that Carthage does not have problems with chloramines in the pool.
"We had an independent company and the county check it out and they found that we were running clean," he said.
Posted on: 12/11/07 10:54 a.m.
Updated on: 12/11/07 4:38 p.m.
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
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