Australia’s Zac Thomas Shares the Story Behind His Terrifying Cardiac Episode at the CrossFit Oceania Semifinal
Australia’s Zac Thomas went into Event 1 of the 2024 CrossFit Oceania Semifinal as a dark horse to take the win. However, a cardiac episode early on saw his 2024 season come to a sudden halt.
Thomas usually loves a grindy workout and had high hopes for the first event of the contest:
- “This was a good workout for me, and I was expecting a top-five [finish], probably even top three or two, to be honest,” Thomas said in an interview with the Morning Chalk Up.
- “Going into round four, I started feeling a little bit different. My lungs were starting to hurt a little bit more than they usually would for me to hold my regular cadence on the run.”
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As he headed into the fifth and final round, Thomas said, “I finished the clean and jerks, and my legs were weirdly heavy.”
His lungs continued to hurt, and he started to feel light-headed and dizzy on the run. At this stage, he was still vying for a top-five finish.
- “I’m thinking that I’ll get through the clean and jerks no matter what,” he said. “I’ll come in from the run and maybe even jump in front of someone.”
However, this was not the case.
What Happened Next?
The remainder of the workout was a blur for Thomas. His face had turned pale gray, his eyes looked dark, and he struggled to stand upright.
With three reps to go, Ricky Garard poured water on Thomas’s head, and the crowd’s intensity grew. He doesn’t remember much from here on.
- “I remember doing maybe one clean and jerk. Apparently, I got four or five no reps as well,” he said.
Through pure grit, Thomas managed to complete all 10 clean and jerks and finished Event 1 under the time cap:
- “I was stupid dizzy. I was running off adrenaline, and the crowd and what everyone was saying around me. I just thought I was unfit and did badly in the workout,” he admitted.
Upon finishing the workout, Thomas lost consciousness on the competition floor and was taken to the medical room by the on-site paramedics.
- “I had a bunch of paramedics around me. I ended up having a little bit of a panic attack when I woke up,” he said. “During that time, my legs were still stupid heavy. I started feeling pressure build up in my lower left lung or heart area.”
- He continued: “It felt like someone was stacking bricks on top of me, and the pressure was building up. It hurt a lot.”
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At the Hospital
Once the ambulance arrived, Thomas was rushed to the hospital, where he spent the night. Upon reflection, he realizes that this terrifying episode has happened previously but that he “thought nothing of it.”
He said he first experienced an episode like this in 2021 during one of the Quarterfinals workouts, explaining that “[I had] written it off as bad nutrition, [or] bad sleep the night before.”
Thomas also believes that he experienced a similar cardiac episode during the first event at the Down Under Championship last year.
- “At Down Under, I thought it was heat stroke because it was 30 °C [86 °F]. I went on to finish the weekend, and I came third overall,” he said.
At 22 years old, Thomas is eager to figure out what’s happening to his heart and has consulted with a heart surgeon. In the short term, he will wear a heart monitor for the next several weeks and is under the care of his surgeon, as he shares:
- “I’ve got to figure out what’s wrong. The cardiac people from Brisbane and the paramedics had diagnosed it as SVT [supraventricular tachycardia],” he said.
- “He [the heart surgeon] either wants to confirm or deny that it’s SVT, and then we can move on and figure out if it’s something else.”
(Editor’s Note: According to the Mayo Clinic, SVT is a type of irregular—fast or erratic— heartbeat that affects the heart’s upper chambers.)
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What’s Next?
Thomas’ main priority is his health and getting the treatment he needs so he can get on with his life and CrossFit.
- “The most important thing for me right now is to get this problem solved so I can go on to compete,” he said. “I obviously want to pick an off-season comp because I missed out on ideally making it to the Games.”
Thomas is keen to share his experiences openly with his social media followers and has been overwhelmed by the response he’s received thus far.
- “Heaps of people have reached out [on social media], which is awesome,” Thomas concluded. “People saying that they’ve had the same thing or similar incidents. [I’ve received] heaps of kind messages.”
Featured image: @zacthomas18/ Instagram