The prevalance of cardiac events among athletes was discussed before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The British Journal of Sports Medicine asked in 2017:
Are elite athletes at higher risk of developing cardiovascular abnormalities than the average citizen?
High performance sport is a focal point for the media, and sadly, cases of sudden death in elite athletes appear in the news with relative frequency. These news added to findings such as those of Pellicia et al. (2016), who reported an unexpected and not negligible prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) abnormalities and pathological conditions among Olympic athletes (Pelliccia et al., 2016), have put exercise on the spotlight, with growing concern about the possible negative effects that regular strenuous exercise can provoke.
It concluded:
Therefore, very large doses of physical exercise such as those performed by elite athletes seem not to increase the prevalence of CV diseases during youth or even in later years, as the CV and mortality risk of elite athletes is the same or even lower than that of the average citizen. The dramatic occurrence of cardiac events in young athletes as well as the interesting results reported by Pelliccia et al. (2016) must raise consciousness about the necessity of an appropriate medical screening in the sportive context; strenuous physical exercise can trigger cardiac arrest in those subjects with a previous undiagnosed CV disease.
On a similar topic, the publication Science Direct posted in 2016:
Sports-related sudden cardiac death in a competitive and a noncompetitive athlete population aged 12 to 49 years: Data from an unselected nationwide study in Denmark
Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize all SrSCD aged 12−49 years and to address the difference in incidence rates between competitive and noncompetitive athletes.
It concluded:
The incidence rates of SrSCD in noncompetitive and competitive athletes are not different. The study showed an increase in the incidence rate of SrSCD in persons aged 36−49 years in both noncompetitive and competitive athletes compared to those aged 12−35 years. Importantly, SCD in the general population is much more prevalent than is SrSCD in all age groups.
which agrees with what the British Journal of Sports Medicine found – that sudden cardiac death is not more prevalent among athletes than in the general population.
About the side-effects of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The publication Yale Medicine from Yale University reported in 2021:
The Link Between Myocarditis and COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines
Cases of heart inflammation reported post-COVID vaccination are usually mild and get better quickly, experts say.
Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, is a medical condition you may not have heard much about—until recently. It became a trending topic this spring when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that it is monitoring a small number of cases of heart inflammation that have arisen in young adults not long after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. The side effect is considered important but uncommon—arising in about 12.6 cases per million second doses administered. And now the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced it will place a warning on the mRNA vaccines. It’s important to note that the vaccination is still recommended for everyone who is eligible.
Returning to the British Journal of Sports Medicine, another report states
Risk factors for exercise-related acute cardiac events. A case–control study.
Background: In spite of the benefits of physical activity, exercise may provoke acute cardiac events in susceptible individuals. Understanding risk factors of exercise-related acute cardiac events may identify opportunities for prevention.
Conclusions: Prior cardiovascular disease, smoking, and a recent episode of fatigue or flu-like symptoms are associated with an increased risk of exercise-related acute cardiac events. Athletes and physicians should pay careful attention when these factors exist or occur.
and this is also mentioned in the first-mentioned report's conclusion:
strenuous physical exercise can trigger cardiac arrest in those subjects with a previous undiagnosed CV disease.
So it seems to be a possibility that either the Covid-19 vaccination, or a pre-existing weakness in the heart of competitive athletes, might cause cardiac arrest when under stress.
I can find no evidence though, that there has been a "surge of cardiac events" in a "huge number of professional athletes and young people" as stated by the video presenter Vince Swan Ben Swann.
Mr Swann also states that Israeli doctors 'estimated' that between one in 3000 to 6000 young men are being hospitalised as a result of "serious heart complications". He provides no substantiation of that, but Reuters reported:
Israel sees probable link between Pfizer vaccine and myocarditis cases
JERUSALEM, June 1 (Reuters) - Israel’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday it had found the small number of heart inflammation cases observed mainly in young men who received Pfizer’s (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine in Israel were likely linked to their vaccination.
In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, the ministry said in disclosing the findings of a study it commissioned to examine the matter.
which is much fewer than Swann claims (and less severe) and there is no comparison against what the normal expected occurrence would be. In the same report
Pfizer said in a statement that it was aware of the Israeli observations of myocarditis and said no causal link to its vaccine had been established.
Some other of his evidence is false too: he cites Christian Eriksen as being a victim of Covid-19 vaccination, yet the player is reported as not having been vaccinated in the The National Sport
Inter director says Christian Eriksen did not have Covid-19 and not vaccinated
Inter Milan director Giuseppe Marotta has dismissed suggestions that Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen had previously tested positive for Covid-19 but said neither was he vaccinated before the start of Euro 2020.
All medicines have some associated risk, and the Covid-19 vaccination is no exception.
There seems to be considerable cant and exaggeration in Ben Swann's wild claim.
