Olympic swimmers are considered the masters of controlled breathing. With holding their breaths and only having certain moments to breath while doing laps, one would guess those moments of air are very significant. However, what if your oxygen supply is already diminished due to decreased base lung capacity? This is something swimmer Cody Miller knows all too well.
Miller was diagnosed with Pectus excavatum at a young age. The hallmark of the condition is a sunken appearance of the chest. The condition also limits the person’s lung capacity forcing them to take more breaths than an average person. Though not all bad, Cody Miller actually has his diagnosis to thank for starting his career in swimming. At age 8 he started swimming because of his condition to monitor his heart and breathing- now he is a 2016 Olympic swimmer.
Not Defined by Condition
The shocking part is he is not just a swimmer, but a breaststroker. The world’s best breaststrokers are 6’3” to 6’5”, and he is 5’10”. Yet Miller takes longer and fewer strokes than anyone. Miller never let his condition define who he was or stop him from going the distance. He became a junior national champion, set national age-group records (15-16) in the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes and was chosen for the national junior team. 2016 will be his first Olympic appearance. In tests at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, he was the most symmetrical swimmer that the judges have ever seen. Possibly due to his caved-in chest.
Cody Miller will compete in the 100m men’s breaststroke at the Rio Olympics.
Pectus Excavatum
Pectus excavatum, also known as sunken or funnel chest, is a congenital chest wall deformity in which several ribs and the sternum grow abnormally, producing a concave, or caved-in, appearance in the anterior chest wall. Pectus Excavatum affects about 200,000 Americans. It causes respiratory issues and deficient lung capacity. Severe cases of pectus excavatum can eventually interfere with the function of the heart and lungs. The cause of pectus excavatum is not known.
Story originally published:
http://www.raredr.com/news/rare-disease-rio-cm
