Three synchronized swimmers rescued from pool

Medics rushed three members of the Seattle Synchronized Swim Team to area hospitals Monday evening after they passed out in the St. Edward State Park swimming pool during a drill, team officials said.

The swimmers, ages 11, 12 and 13, had been in the Kenmore pool about 15 minutes when they began having difficulty, head coach Julie Abel said.

"One of them was hanging on a rope and a coach saw her slip underwater," team president Craig Penner said. "The coach jumped in and pulled her out, then looked back and saw two other girls on the bottom of the pool."

A lifeguard and another CPR-trained coach helped in the rescue. Penner said a fourth girl swam to a pool edge and complained of dizziness, unsure where she was or how she got there. A team mother who had bent over the pool's edge also blacked out.

The three girls who passed out were under water less than a minute before CPR was administered, Penner said. Team officials suspect chemical levels in the pool might have been to blame.

"From the preliminary findings, it appears there were some high chemical levels at the pool," said Abel, who was briefed about the incident by other coaches. "We're at the height of our season and the girls are in great physical shape. This was a very fluke thing."

The drill was "basically a warm-up," Abel said, and something the swimmers had been doing for months. Older teammates who had been swimming laps at the same time complained that their hands tingled.

Two of the girls were kept overnight at Evergreen Hospital Medical Center, and the other spent the night at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center as a precaution, team officials said.

Penner said air was tested at the pool and it did not appear to be abnormal. Abel said tests found unusual chemical levels at the pool, though she was not sure what chemicals caused the problems.

A Northshore Fire Department spokesperson could not be reached Monday night.

The Seattle Synchronized Swim Team was preparing for a meet this weekend at Juanita Pool against competitors from the Northwest and Canada.

"They're all doing well tonight," Abel said. "All our coaches are grateful it was not a worse situation."