Public Pools Banning Underwater Breath-Holding

Public swimming pools across the country are banning prolonged breath holding due to condition called hypoxic blackout, or shallow water blackout, which can lead to drowning. It's a topic AB first explored in 2006.

Shallow water blackout happens when a person attempts to swim underwater for an extended amount of time, typically to build endurance. In order to go a long distance underwater, swimmers will often take several deep breaths, which causes the levels of carbon dioxide in the blood to fall. Once the swimmer is underwater, the carbon dioxide levels don’t rise quickly enough to signal the brain to breathe, oxygen levels go down, and the swimmer faints underwater and drowns.

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