Near Tragedy at Arizona Masters State Champs

PHOENIX, April 2. A near tragedy threatened to mar what was otherwise a glorious Spring weekend for the 2007 Arizona Short Course Masters Swimming Championships at the Brophy swim complex in Phoenix, Ariz.

On Saturday morning, Ron Johnson, 75, a 2007 inductee-to-be in the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame, was warming down, about five minutes after having destroyed the national record in the 200-yard breaststroke for men 75-79 with a brilliant 3:07 when he went into cardiac arrest. In the first of a series of fortunate coincidences that saved his life, a close friend in the adjacent lane noticed Ron floating just off the bottom of the pool, apparently holding his breath But sensing that Ron didn't look quite right, he dove down and immediately realized his friend was not conscious.

He quickly brought Ron to the surface and, with the help of another swimmer, swam him to the pool's edge, then yelled "Emergency, call 911!" Meet organizers called 911 while several Masters swimmers helped the friend pull Ron from the water. Though he probably had been under water for less than a minute, he was not breathing and there was no pulse.

Within seconds Ron was covered with towels while Liz Enguidanos, a nurse competing in the meet began CPR. In the next three minutes, she was joined by three physicians who were also competing at the meet: Drs. Robert Enguidanos (Liz's husband), Kurt Dickson (an Emergency Room physician), Kent Johnson (no relation to Ron) and Patricia Kaawaloa (a nurse from Prescott). They also administered CPR and tried to shock Ron's heart into beating with an electric defibrillator the Brophy facility keeps on hand in the event of just such an emergency. Their efforts, however, yielded meager results – only an occasional, mechanically-induced breath or heartbeat.

Emergency police and firefighters arrived within 10 minutes, administered epinephrine and shocked him for a third time. This time, Ron took a few gasping breaths. The 911 team quickly bundled him up and took him to the renowned Arizona Heart Hospital, about two miles away, where an emergency medical team was able to get his heart going.

Imaging revealed that Ron's heart was very strong but there was severe blockage in all his cardiac arteries. That afternoon, physicians performed a quadruple bypass in an operation lasting five hours.

In a testament to his conditioning and strength, Ron was sitting up and telling bad jokes by Sunday morning, allaying fears of brain damage. That afternoon, after greeting throngs of family members, friends and well-wishers, he asked for the results of the final two days of the FINA World Championships, marveling at the 400 IM world records set by Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff.

Ron's going to make it!

Special Thanks to Phillip Whitten for contributing this report.

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