Page 6 - Summer 2020

TEAM PHYSICIAN’S CORNER
P articipation in recreational and competitive swimming has evolved

with growing popularity over the centuries, particularly since it was

included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. In 2020, event
distances in the upcoming Olympics range from 50 to 1500 meters in
the pool, open-water distance swimming of 10 kilometers, and up to
2.4 miles in Ironman distance triathlon events. The four competitive

strokes include freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly.

Epidemiology of
Swimming Injuries
The number of Americans who swim
recreationally or competitively increased
by 1.5 times from 2006 to 2018 and is
estimated at nearly 28 million in 2020.
2
Injury rates in competitive swimming
have demonstrated a steady climb from
the high school and collegiate levels
to the Olympic and professional levels
4,5
since the 1990s. Additionally, as with
other sports, athletes who specialize in
one discipline (breaststroke, backstroke,
butterfly, or the individual medley)
are at a higher risk of injury than
freestylers. 6
The vast majority of these injuries
are overuse and non-contact injuries.
Among NCAA swimmers, between 2009
and 2014 an injury rate of 1.63 injuries
per 1000 athlete-exposures among
females and 1.48 injuries per 1000
athlete-exposures for males was
documented. Among Olympic swimmers,
7
injury incidence remained steady
between the 2008 and 2016 Olympics at
3–4 percent, though swimming was the
only sport in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro
Games where more injuries took place
during training than in competition. 8,9
Several predisposing factors have
been identified that put swimming
athletes at risk for injury. These include
ligamentous laxity, range of motion
deficits, improper stroke mechanics,
and muscular fatigue. The most common
mechanical mistakes that lead to overuse
injuries in freestyle swimming include:

 4 SPORTS MEDICINE UPDATE | Summer 2020, Issue 3