Usually, the heart murmurs in athletes are of physiological or innocent types. They are more likely to be a sign of cardiovascular fitness instead of harmful abnormality. As athletes tend to have an intensive exercise regimen, their hearts adapt by becoming slightly enlarged due to which a greater amount of blood can move through with each beat. This stroke volume of blood can cause a gushing noise which is completely harmless and doesn’t affect their ability to play sports in any way.
Rarely, the gushing sound can mean a narrow heart valve or a small hole in the heart. It could also be the result of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes the heart muscles to thicken and block or reduce the blood flow from the left ventricle to the aorta. Hence, it is important to determine the exact cause due to which the sound is occurring.