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. 2012 May;4(3):246-51.
doi: 10.1177/1941738112442132.

Epidemiology of injuries and prevention strategies in competitive swimmers

Florian Wanivenhaus  1 , Alice J S Fox, Salma Chaudhury, Scott A Rodeo
Affiliations

Epidemiology of injuries and prevention strategies in competitive swimmers

Florian Wanivenhaus et al. Sports Health. 2012 May.

Abstract

Context: Competitive swimmers are predisposed to musculoskeletal injuries of the upper limb, knee, and spine. This review discusses the epidemiology of these injuries, in addition to prevention strategies that may assist the physician in formulating rehabilitation programs for the swimmer following an injury.

Evidence acquisition: A literature search was performed by a review of Google Scholar, OVID, and PubMed articles published from 1972 to 2011.

Results: This study highlights the epidemiology of injuries common to competitive swimmers and provides prevention strategies for the sports health professional.

Conclusions: An understanding of swimming biomechanics and typical injuries in swimming aids in early recognition of injury, initiation of treatment, and design of optimal prevention and rehabilitation strategies.

Keywords: competitive swimmer; injury; knee; prevention; shoulder; spine.

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Conflict of interest statement

One or more authors has declared the following potential conflict of interest: Dr Rodeo is a consultant for Smith and Nephew and holds stock or stock options in Cayenne Medical.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Freestyle swimming stroke. A, hand entry; A to B, early pull-through phase; B to C, late pull-through phase; C, hand exit; C to A, recovery phase. Reprinted with permission and adapted with permission from Pink et al.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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