Colby Sports Medicine grapples with return to play in the wake of Delta

As COVID-19’s Delta variant rages throughout the country, state, and Kennebec County in particular, the College has had to rewrite protocol and react on the fly to protect its students. As such, re-entry protocols have been critically revised to get Colby’s athletes back on the field as quickly and safely as possible.

Last year, after the mandatory 14 day quarantine following a positive test, athletes were introduced to a seven day reorientation to test their lungs and stress levels before they could compete again. Bear in mind that this was before vaccines and the Delta variant, when testing positive for COVID-19 likely meant serious flu symptoms and loss of smell or taste — with some people recovered from COVID-19 experiencing long-term detrimental symptoms.

This year, with near school-wide vaccinations and more knowledge about the virus’s effects, a seven-day re-entry was cut to five days for vaccinated individuals.

Steven Ditzler ‘22 recently recovered from COVID-19 and is an athlete in the process of reentry.  Ditzler explained the reasoning behind Sports Medicine’s protocols.

“They are worried about myocarditis from COVID-19. Apparently the myocarditis or heart inflammation can cause even healthy people to just drop dead during exercise,” Ditzler said.

Myocarditis is a weakening of the heart that can accompany viral infections: in this case, COVID-19. 

The COVID-19 infection return is framed as an “Activity Progression” designed to stress the heart and lungs under careful supervision, and in gradual increments to prepare athletes for a safe return.

The first day lasts just 15 minutes and only utilizes 70 percent of the individual’s maximum heart rate while doing a light exercise activity such as jogging or cycling. Athletes have found it difficult lowering their heart rates to the proper level, especially when compared to training conducted prior to a COVID-19 diagnosis. 

Day two allows athletes to rejoin their team practices for half an hour to engage in light, simple activities like running drills. They may begin light weight training on their own time. This activity is meant to put just a little more stress on the heart and lungs without going overboard. At this phase, athletes may push their heart rate to eighty percent.

On the third day, athletes can progress to more complicated and strenuous training activities for up to 45 minutes without eclipsing 80 percent of their maximum heart rate. Additionally, they are allowed to participate in moderate weight training on their own. 

Upon the fourth day of Sports Medicine’s return to activity progression, athletes are allowed to progress to normal training activities and work towards full weight training for 60 minutes, a welcomed step close to their full return. The fifth day is marked by an end of the progression and a return to full team training and competition.

~ Will Bedingfield ‘22