MORETON-IN-MARSH, UK (10 Feb 2007) — A 15-year-old swimmer who hoped to represent Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics drowned after he blacked out during an underwater training session. Luke Jeffrey lost consciousness as he practised a controlled breathing technique during a training session in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. An inquest heard how his father Mark pulled him from the pool after he was found motionless in the deep end. He died shortly afterwards at Cheltenham General Hospital last April. The inquest in Cirencester heard how he was so desperate to get to the London Olympics that he would often push himself to the limit. Luke, who had represented Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire at district level, had blacked out six months before his death after attempting to swim three 25-metre lengths underwater. He had gone with his father to the (BSAC) Moreton and District Divers Club weekly meeting at the Fire Training College, where he regularly swam 60 lengths of the pool during hour-long sessions. 'Drifted' to the end His father's partner, Helen Wilson, told the inquest Luke had started using controlled breathing techniques to improve his rhythm and stamina while swimming. He had also been training to hold his breath in the bath at home and during the divers meeting, he had asked her to time how long he could stay underwater for. She said he had twice held his breath for nearly two minutes, but wanted to "push" it even further. Chris Smith, a fellow swimmer and friend, told the court how Luke had blacked out as they pushed each other during a training session six months previously. In a statement read out to the court, he said after Luke had swum three lengths underwater, he "drifted" to the end. "I was so worried about him I jumped in. He seemed to have momentarily blacked out." Sporting prowess Forensic pathologist Dr Deryk James told the hearing it was unusual for a fit and healthy boy to suddenly die in this way. | | BSAC teen scuba diver Luke Jeffrey, 15, drowned in a pool after shallow water blackout. He said the combination of breathing underwater, hyperventilating and vigorous exercise meant he lost consciousness due to a lack of oxygen in the blood and died as a result of drowning. In recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Alan Crickmore said: "All the evidence before me paints a picture of a delightful young man who had significant sporting prowess. "I'm satisfied from the clearly researched evidence of Dr James that Luke's death was caused following a blackout which was due to a prolonged period of breath holding and exercise and as a result of that he drowned." Speaking after the hearing, Luke's mother Melanie Jeffrey, 40, said: "He was being trained by someone who used to coach the Great Britain team and he had realised Luke's potential. "He would have been in his 20s by the time the London Games came about and he hoped to be doing the 50m and 100m freestyle. "But we'll never know now if he would have made it." SCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
