A Navy Seal who led a strenuous workout that sent nine Tufts University lacrosse players to the hospital appears to have lacked the credentials to supervise the group exercise.
The Tuft's men's lacrosse team participated in the workout, which was led a recent graduate of the Boston-area university who was a former lacrosse team equipment manager and current Navy SEAL. The workout resulted in 24 of the 61 participants developing rhabdomyolysis.
According to a report prepared by sports medicine consultant Rod Walters and attorney Randy Aliment, found that nine of the students had to be hospitalized. The review states that the Navy SEAL’s lack of proper credentials and Tuft’s lack of a plan for transportation of students to hospitals led to a dangerous scenario that could have been avoided.
“The Navy SEAL Workout did not follow principles of acclimatization that are necessary to avoid injury during training,” the report states. “The Navy SEAL Workout was not exercise-science based, physiologically sport-specific, or tailored to the individual sport of lacrosse.”
The review stated that the Navy SEAL who led the workout declined to be interviewed. The SEAL was not named in the report.
Navy officials “are aware of the release of the report and that a member of the Naval Special Warfare community led a workout with Tufts University student athletes in September 2024,” a Naval Special Warfare spokesperson told The Associated Press.
Students who participated in the workout out were reportedly no informed what would be involved. Some reports said the students were required to more than 250 burpees over the course of the approximately 75-minute workout. While 40% of the students completed the workout without complication, many began complaining of soreness afterward.
The review concluded that Tufts personnel need a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities in the future to prevent a similar scenario from happening again. That means “vetting of team workout plans that deviate from those usually employed,” it states.
