Swimmer’s heart is tough to beat

North Carolina swimmer Vinny Pryor stayed in the pool despite a heart condition that threatened his career. DTH/Andrew Johnson

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When the North Carolina swim team dove into the pool on the first day of practice in September, for many it was a familiar routine.

But for Vinny Pryor, it was a second chance.

In July his cardiologist surprised the 6-foot-2-inch junior by telling him a heart condition threatened to cut his swimming career short.

“That was it. That was going to be the end of my career,” Pryor said. “I was going into my junior year and I had two years left, but she told me I had to stop. It was a shock, and really hard to deal with.”

For Pryor, heart complications are nothing new.

While training with his high school swim team during his sophomore year, Pryor was often unexpectedly overcome with an extremely accelerated heartbeat.

It was soon diagnosed as supraventricular tachycardia — an abnormally accelerated heart rhythm.

Two years later, during his senior year in high school, Pryor was also diagnosed with a dilated aortic root — meaning that an increased blood pressure could cause a potentially fatal aortic rupture.

“I always said I want to be done on my own time,” he said. “I don’t want to swim forever, but I don’t want to have it stop unless I’m ready to have it stop. And I wasn’t ready.”

His cardiologist was hesitant about his swimming career — but Pryor wasn’t. He attacked his freshman year, often turning a blind eye to his doctor’s restrictions. She said as long as he wasn’t breathing hard, it was OK.

“She had told me I had to limit my weightlifting before,” Pryor said. “But I’m stubborn, and I’m an athlete and I love to train.”

But by July, Pryor’s aortic root was enlarged. The cardiologist knew he wasn’t following the restrictions and refused to allow him back in the pool, he said.

After three months of emotional pleading to his cardiologist, she finally gave her blessing for him to swim as long as he followed strict training guidelines. In mid-September, just a few weeks before the season opener against East Carolina, Pryor began training with the team.

And this time, he’s following his restrictions to the letter.

Instead of lifting heavy weights, Pryor does repetitions of smaller weights and performs other exercises like push-ups and sit-ups.

“(Weight training) is really important, but there are other things he can do,” coach Rich DeSelm said.

“Sometimes in life when you can’t do something that might be important to your success, if you’re passionate about it and willing, you can find another way. He’s finding another way.”

DeSelm, who has coached Pryor for since 2007, stressed his value to the team’s effort.

“His presence makes a big difference in our team’s success,” he said. “In August I didn’t think he was going to swim again. It’s a real blessing to have him.”

The difference he makes on the team is clear. In the first six meets of the season, Pryor, a standout breaststroker, has won five events and has finished second twice.

In the 2008-09 season, he set the school record in the 100-yard breaststroke at 54.35. He qualified for the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials in the 200-meter breaststroke.

“He got a second chance here, and I think he appreciates it more than he ever has,” DeSelm said. “When something gets taken away from you, you realize how important it is.”

In addition to training restrictions, Pryor takes medication designed to halt the dilation of his aorta and meets with his cardiologist every six months.

But for now, he’s not skipping a beat.

“Every morning when I wake up and it’s really early and I have practice, before I start thinking about how much I don’t want to go dive in the pool, I think, this could be it,” Pryor said. “I don’t want to take any of it for granted anymore.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu [4].