It was supposed to be an ordinary Sunday – full of exercises, like Siiri Einiön, 19, days in general. Tens of exercises had to be fit into six days, because only Saturday was a day of rest.
But the day turned out to be very different from what Einiö could have guessed when he woke up from his home in Kirkkonummi in the morning.
Sunday’s morning workout included pool training and a fitness circuit. At the end of the workout, however, I got a chest pain that didn’t go away even when walking to the car.
– While driving home, my left hand started to go numb and tingly. I had to keep the phone line open while driving home, Einiö now says almost a week later.
The pain did not subside even in the evening, so Einiö went to the emergency room that same evening.
Tests were taken at the hospital: several heart films, blood tests, an X-ray of the lungs. Nothing abnormal was found, but the heart muscle enzyme was slightly elevated.
At the beginning of the week, Einiö was sent to Meilahti by ambulance for further examinations.
While telling the results, the doctor took a break – an embarrassingly long one – after which he stated that only the heart of a perfectly healthy athlete was found in the images.
Einiö’s mood also began to ease a little, and he thought he had already got over the situation. However, a closer examination by the doctors revealed that it was a mild myocarditis.
– After all, it was a terrible shock at first, because already last spring season, the patient was almost completely gone. Now I hadn’t even been sick, so the situation was quite special in itself. The doctor suspected that it might have been an asymptomatic virus, and then, in a way, by accident, I have been training without knowing that I was taken over by this virus, and my heart has been strained by it.
The treatment plan was clear: Einiö should not exercise at all for the next three months. The heart rate was not allowed to rise above one hundred, and only walking was allowed: a maximum of 30 minutes a day. In addition, Einiö takes medicines that lower the heart rate.
At the same time, Einiö’s summer plans changed.
– I was aiming for the under-23 European Championships, there was supposed to be a national team camp and other things.
Einiö has also opened up about his situation on his social media accounts. It is good for a young swimmer that the dark side of the sport is also talked about.
– Social media is often just a glossy image. Of course, I understand that people don’t want to share their weakest moments, but I felt that a little balance was needed on social media: that athletes don’t always succeed, there aren’t always good moments, even if they are often brought up. I think it’s wonderful to be an example that this is not always fun and nice. That’s okay, we’re all human.
He praises the good care and especially the staff of Jorvi’s heart department. Einiö also wants to share his story as a warning.
– Maybe this proves that you don’t necessarily have to have even a small flu while training and still something like this can happen. I think it’s really important that people take care of their health and don’t start raising their heart rate too early.
Illness on the road to success
Einiötä has been dubbed one of Finland’s most promising swimmers. He made his debut in the adult EC pool in the spring of 2021. He won his first adult competition medal in December of the same year, when he took home silver in the 50-meter breaststroke.
However, success has been hindered by illnesses and injuries, which Einiö has experienced numerous times despite his young age.
– Last year started unfortunately with a sinus infection, which took a good month to rehabilitate. After that, Corona struck for the first time and after that it was decided to cut out the tonsils, since in previous years there was angina. It took almost the whole spring, Einiö regrets.
He was early on in the age-season national team and joined the adult national team a couple of years ago.
– Unfortunately, because of that bad season, I didn’t have a chance to show my good condition in the competitions and I dropped out of the national team. I was able to train quite well in the fall despite that, but for someone coming from a small swimming club, a camp with them would have been really important.
The state of overexertion is also familiar from youth. It was first noticed by the coaches and teachers when Einiö tried to fall asleep during lessons.
– An iron deficiency was found and I slept ten hours a night, but it still made me tired. Then I had to take a little longer break from training. But when you got out of the break, it had helped really well, after that came success.
This time, too, Einiö has decided to take a positive approach to his situation: time has been freed up, for example, to prepare for the spring graduation essays.
– I try to think that life carries on, everything has a purpose. We will definitely get ahead of this, and there is no rush for anything in life now. I’m still young and I have wonderful people around me. They have helped to see the positive aspects. Now I have three months to do everything I don’t normally get to, like seeing more friends, painting and drawing.
The knowledge of the certainty of a university place in the fall has also brought relief: Einiö already had time to stress about whether the place would be canceled due to illness.
– I’m going to Texas in August to study and swim in their swimming team. In the contract I signed in November, it was written that it can no longer be terminated for health reasons. It was a really big relief. I hope that I can get in shape before I leave, so that it will be nice to start training with new training buddies.
Help has also been found from a sports psychologist, whom Einiö met while recovering from an overexertion condition. Today, the two meet more irregularly and the discussions mainly focus on competition performances.
– I’ve learned a lot about being kind to myself, for example. He has been talked to a lot and shed tears. There are a lot of tools that you can use. Being warm and relaxed, everything is not always so serious.
Sometimes it has been otherwise. Einiö has tried to learn by doing: at the worst times, even sitting in a traffic jam has seemed like a terrible waste of time.
Despite the setbacks, Einiö is optimistic about the future.
– After all, there have been big plans here, and there still are. Of course, I would like to be successful, but let’s take care of the health issues first and then reassess the situation. I think you can get anywhere in life if you want it enough and work for it.
Exercise can be seen as changes in the heart’s structure and function. These changes are normal for athletes and occur in 70 percent. For example, Endurance training typically causes the atria and ventricles of the heart to enlarge.
However, the athlete should seek more detailed examinations if he/she exhibits the following symptoms: exertion-related dizziness or loss of consciousness, unexplained decrease in performance, chest pain or shortness of breath, throbbing sensations or abundant extra throbbing.
Myocarditis is, for example, an inflammation caused by the flu virus, enterovirus or Coxsackie viruses that live in the digestive tract.
Myocarditis can occur, for example, in connection with a common respiratory viral infection. It occurs when the flu virus is able to multiply, progress into the bloodstream and all the way to the heart.
Myocarditis symptoms and intensity vary. Symptoms include, for example, muscle and joint pains, fatigue, fever, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, chest pains, shortness of breath, arrhythmias and heart failure. The inflammation may be asymptomatic or the symptoms may indicate a flu. The disease can progress insidiously.
Myocarditis is a significant cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. The increased risk of sudden death does not depend on the severity of the inflammation, but is often related to physical exertion. Exercising too early can affect the healing process.
The development of myocarditis can be prevented by resting, i.e. by avoiding all exercise that is more strenuous than walking. In healthy adults, myocarditis usually does not cause permanent damage, but recovery can take months.
Sources: Mehiläinen.fi, Duodecim-lehti, Terveurheilija.fi.