In August, my neighbor friend’s son tragically died while spearfishing. The cause? Shallow Water Blackout. Before this tragedy, I had never heard of Shallow Water Blackout (SWB). Soon after, I learned that blacking out happens in competitive swimming somewhat regularly, though not always resulting in death or injury. I also learned it is easily preventable when swimmers and coaches are educated about it and use safe practice methods. I promised my friend that I would honor his son by leveraging my connections to the wonderful people in competitive swimming to spread the word about SWB prevention.
Would you join me by taking a few minutes this week to do the following action steps?
1. Watch the 
excellent video PSA by coach Bob Bowman about SWB. You’ll quickly learn guidelines you can use to educate your swimmers about safe training practices that prevent SWB;
2. Take this quick Survey. The results will assist the Shallow Water Blackout Prevention organization in their efforts to inform and educate the public;
3. If you are interested in learning more about Shallow Water Blackout, click on these links to read more about SWB:
Visit the Shallow Water Blackout Prevention website
From all of us at Vasa, we wish you a Happy New Year!
Sincerely yours,
Rob Sleamaker