– I had never imagined this in advance, says doctor Tonje Reier-Nilsen in Olympiatoppen to news. Now she and other experts are sounding the alarm about the conditions in Norwegian swimming pools and the effect it can have on the health of the athletes. – This should actually have been raised before, because this is not an unknown problem, says Reier-Nilsen. The tests she has done on Norwegian swimmers before and after training have caused doctor Tonje Reier-Nilsen to react. Photo: Tom Balgaard / Tom Balgaard / news – Rarely seen Tests for the doctor have revealed up to 50 per cent reduced lung function in some athletes after swimming sessions. – I have rarely seen such a narrowing of the airways in any setting before, says Reier-Nilsen. This and the high prevalence of asthma among swimmers worry her. What particularly worries Reier-Nilsen is that they don’t quite know what this means in the short and long term for the athletes. – Getting less oxygen can also have adverse effects on other organs in the body, says Reier Nilsen, who previously also had professional responsibility for asthma at Rikshospitalet. Last week there were many swimmers in action during the NM in Bergen. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news It is the air the swimmers breathe in directly above the surface of the water, which is pointed out as the problem in Norwegian swimming pools. There are gases that are formed in the water by mixing chlorine and organic material, such as sweat and cosmetics. Among other things, it produces trichloramine gas, which irritates the respiratory tract, directly above the surface of the water. – Do you know drowning National team swimmer Markus Lie himself uses asthma medicine every morning, evening and before every training session. He says that asthma is widespread in the national team. – So we sit, as a group before training, and take all our medicines. It may look a bit strange from the outside, but it is like that in the whole swimming environment. It happens in other countries too, says Lie to news during the NM in swimming. Markus Lie hopes that politicians see that the problem with the swimming pool must be tackled. An unpublished study, at the Norwegian Institute of Sports Studies (NIH), shows that 30 percent of Norwegian swimmers aged 12–14 have exercise-triggered asthma. But it is pointed out that the proportion of athletes with asthma and respiratory problems increases as the swimmers get older. The findings are linked to the air quality in the swimming pools. The national team swimmer says that he himself has felt discomfort many times during training. In particular, how he couldn’t breathe after a competition in 2009 has stuck. – It was absolutely terrible. So I had to go out in my swimming trunks. All the way to ground level, out on the street, just to get some fresh air. I have certainly known it. It’s like being suffocated, says Lie to news. Markus Lie has carried out provocation tests, which have shown a 50 per cent reduction in lung function. Here Lie is in conversation with national team manager Petter Løvberg. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news During big events, such as the Norwegian championship, he notices that younger boys and girls often need help from time to time. This particularly applies to what he calls “bad” swimming pools. – They get so stressed that they can’t breathe. There will be some such experiences and cases during a weekend like this here. And it probably has a lot to do with asthma and the discomfort you get. You feel like you’re drowning in yourself, says Lie. 50 percent asthma Researcher Trine Stensrud at the NIH has examined top athletes for several decades. She sees that the respiratory problems of swimmers stand out. – International studies show that up to 60-70 per cent of swimmers have very sensitive airways. This is a characteristic feature of asthma, says Stensrud. It is the air directly above the surface of the water that irritates the airways and causes problems. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news A Norwegian study published in 2022 showed that 80 percent of national team swimmers had hypersensitive airways and 50 percent were diagnosed with asthma. In comparison, 40 per cent of national team athletes in cross-country skiing had hypersensitive airways and 30 per cent were diagnosed with asthma, the researcher states. Stensrud emphasizes that swimmers also train more than other endurance athletes and therefore breathe in more of the chlorine-containing air in the swimming pool. – Many swimmers also quit early at top level without us knowing the reason for it, says Stensrud. She believes that it is now very important to investigate the connection between the indoor climate in swimming pools and respiratory health even better. – Not something you National team swimmer Ingeborg Vassbakk Løyning, who has had asthma since she was 16, notices how much better it is to train in an outdoor pool than in a hall. Ingeborg Vassbakk Løyning would have liked to see some clean facilities for swimming training. He himself has much better capacity in outdoor facilities. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news – We have done a number of tests. Then we have seen that it often pays to make new dosages after swimming and during the session in order to maintain the effect of the medication. Because he goes down quite quickly, says Vassbakk Løyning to news during the National Swimming Championships in Bergen. – And how does that affect it? – It doesn’t look like anything. Everything tightens the chest, it does. Even if you have medicines to help, prevent and counteract it, it is almost inevitable, she says. National team manager Petter Løvberg believes there is cause for concern. National team manager Petter Løvberg in the Swimming Association sees that there is less of a problem for the swimmers in the summer, when they swim outside. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news – We have been concerned for a long time that we know that there are many swimming pools that may not have good enough ventilation, and that we have swimmers who have respiratory problems, especially asthma, says Løvberg. At the same time, his experience is that swimming does not have a bigger problem than other sports. – In general, I would say that swimmers have good health even after an active career. At least that is my experience, says Løvberg. Peikar on authority responsibility Senior adviser Bjørn Aas in Cowi is an expert in swimming facilities and a consultant in the construction of sports facilities. He believes that the authorities have a responsibility to create regulations that protect both employees and users of a sports building. But he says that traditional solutions for ventilation in swimming pools have led to a health risk for both swimmers and those who use it as their workplace. It is the air directly above the surface of the water that irritates the airways and causes problems. Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / news – It comes from our assessment of the way the ventilation system in a swimming hall is constructed, says Aas, and explains that emphasis has been placed on the building being protected against moisture and kept warm. This means that the halls must have as little fresh air as possible down towards the water to reduce evaporation and thus increase energy consumption. – We think it’s wrong, because swimmers need fresh air to perform well. And then we have to get clean air down to where they are, says Aas, who states that they have found a solution that does not require new technology. They are now collaborating with the NIH and the Olympiatoppen to show whether better air quality can also provide better performance for top athletes. The Ministry of Health and Care informs news in an e-mail that the work on the Swimming Pool Regulations is unfortunately very delayed. – The Directorate of Health submitted its report on proposed changes in April 2022. During the pandemic, the ministry’s work with pandemic management meant that much other regulatory work had to be put on hold. They state that this applies, among other things, to the Swimming Pool Regulations, which will be responsible for the tour going forward. Published 11.07.2024, at 11.59
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Sounding the alarm about Norwegian swimming pools – warnings after lung tests of swimmers – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
