UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State’s McCoy Natatorium and Tom Griffiths, Penn State’s manager of aquatic facilities and a recognized aquatic safety expert, are tentatively scheduled to be featured on the syndicated television newsmagazine Inside Edition on Friday (July 13) as part of a segment on shallow water blackout, or breath-holding deaths.
Griffiths, who has researched the issue for about 20 years, said underwater breath holding for time and distance is a largely unrecognized but very serious safety problem.
“Some of the best-trained swimmers — competitive swimmers, lifeguards, Navy SEALS and tri-athletes — think breath holding for time and distance is a positive,” Griffiths said. “The problem is that when people die from this, the cause is usually sudden cardiac arrest, but most of the time the coroner finds the death to be consistent with drowning.”
Griffiths said physicians and military experts are aware of the danger, but often swimmers and lifeguards are not. Since shallow water blackout usually occurs when swimmers competitively and repetitively hold their breath for time and distance, it often happens to the most talented swimmers. Griffiths added that military pools have uniformly banned breath holding because of this danger.
Inside Edition’s Emmy Award-winning veteran investigative reporter Matt Meagher interviewed Griffiths for the segment, and the show also filmed at McCoy Natatorium, choreographing examples of dangerous swimming practices. Griffiths said the show will also feature a Navy SEAL and people who have lost someone close to them to shallow water blackout.
“This is a vitally important story,” Griffiths said. “We don’t know how many people are doing this, but it is too many.”
Inside Edition airs locally on WTAJ-TV (State College, Altoona, Johnstown) at 7 p.m. Friday.
