Narwhal News

Mesa Aquatics Club Masters Newsletter July, 2012

Watch Out, World…Here Comes Breeja!!!

And she’s ready to storm the 2012 Olympics!!! Mesa Aquatics Club Alumni, is happily on her way to the Olympics Games in London. Breeja is a relative new-comer to the sport of , getting involved in it competitively her sophomore year at Mt. View under Coach Glen Coy. After just three years she had a phenomenal sophomore season at Texas A & M getting the American Record in the 100 yard Breastroke. She became the first swimmer from Texas A&M ever to win at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Breeja beat , the best breaststroker in the world, and world-record-holder , in the 100 . Always humble and gracious, Breeja is one of the hardest workers her coaches have ever seen….in and out of the water. Her work ethic is relentless, her natural ability is God-given, and her positive influence on others is undeniable. Congratulations, Breeja!!! This honor couldn’t go to a more worthy person, and the entire team at Mesa Aquatics Club will be cheering you on in London!!!!!

A Super Happy Birthday to All the Narwhals Who Are Turning 21 (again!!!) This Month:

Ron “don’t take my gear away” Wills; Peter “the silent shark” Lofquist; Keith “I thought workout started at 6:17” Tran; Brad “do you think Breeja will make the Olympics” Lundblad; Jose “Square Pants Sponge Bob board” Salazar; and Sweet Jamina Winston!!!

Have a super happy birthday, Narwhals!!!

Upcoming Events!

Don’t forget to enter the Grand Canyon State Games on July 28th! The meet will be held at Kino. It’s a lot of fun, and rumor has it that the medals are really big and will impress all your friends back at the office!!! More information can be found on our website: www.mesamasters.com

August 4th -5th also at Kino is the Arizona Masters State Championships. If you haven’t entered, stay far away from Coach Paul and don’t make eye contact! He’s out to WIN this one!!! It’s OUR pool, and OURS to win! So please, make your aquatic contribution and enter the meet! If you just compete on Saturdays, that’s fine! We’ll take you on Saturday! If you’ve never competed before, no problem! We’ll help you get ready!! If you compete on a regular basis, what a great opportunity to chalk up some personal best times! As you can see, none of you are getting out of this. Enter the meet peacefully. Don’t MAKE me come after you. You can sign up on line under “Events” on our website. Ouch! Cramps!!! By Dr. Kip Sharpe

I know that the coaches all think I’m sandbagging when I get out of the water because of a cramp, but I really do get them. Do I get them because I’m a Mountain Dew addict, because I’m out of shape, overheated, dehydrated, salt depleted (from sweating) or otherwise chemically imbalanced? The real medical answer is: no one really knows. Wish they did, although if it turned out to be Mountain Dew, I don’t know if I’d quit.

What are cramps? They are a forceful muscle contraction that is usually involuntary and usually painful. Stronger cramps won’t release on their own and require manual stretching. They can ease up and recur several times before going away.

On the Mountain Dew topic, I do have an anecdotal experience that to me suggest soda has some connection (anecdotal really means no real scientific evidence) . Many years ago, I was the team physician for a top high school football team in southern California. They went through all the normal warm ups and were well conditioned, but always had far more cramps than the other team, but only in the second half. At first, I thought they weren’t drinking enough in the heat. As the season progressed and the games were in cool weather, nothing changed. It looked like the players were drinking every chance they had. I was puzzled. I happened one game to go into the locker-room at halftime and noted that the booster club was providing the team with sodas which the kids and coaches proudly showed me how good they were at drinking to avoid dehydration. It occurred to me that this might be the problem. I asked them to switch to a non-carbonated sports drink (this was long enough ago that there was only one) and, low and behold, the frequency of cramps markedly decreased. Was this related to the carbonation or the caffeine (which actually dehydrates you by making you pee more (diuretic))? I don’t know and as I stated, this is only one observation, not a scientific study. So why do I still drink my Dew, well that’s under the addiction topic…………

The leading current leading cause for cramps in the medical literature is altered neuromuscular control, but also being investigated are dehydration, electrolyte depletion, poor conditioning, muscle fatigue, and doing a new activity. Altered neuromuscular control is related to fatigue as it affects the muscle coordination and control.

Cramps are treated by stopping the offending activity (ie swimming, running) and stretching and massaging the affected muscle and holding the stretch until the cramp stops. If you are swimming when a cramp hits, it is best to get safely to a wall to avoid drowning. Stretching on the bottom of the pool doesn’t work very well.

Preventing cramps is more complicated since we don’t really know the cause. The best advice at present is to hydrate well before and during exercise, warm up properly, stretch before and intermittently during exercise, use electrolyte replacing drinks (like Gatorade or Powerade) during prolonged exercise (greater than 1 hour), and stretching after exercise. And maybe, just maybe giving up soda.