Artistic Swimming Injuries in Young Elite Athletes: An 11-year Follow-Up

Abstract

Objective: Artistic swimming is a highly challenging discipline, requiring physical skills and creativity. There are almost no published data on trauma. We aimed to assess the incidence and the nature of injuries in artistic swimmers. Design: An 11-year retrospective single-center cohort study. Setting: Department of Sport Medicine of a University Hospital. Patients: One hundred and twenty-four elite female artistic swimmers aged 12.9 ± 1.6 years. Interventions: The cohort was divided into 3 groups according to the competition categories (from 9 to 12 years old called “future”, 12-15 years old called “youth”, 15-19 years old called “junior”). Main Outcome Measures: Injury rate per season and per athlete was assessed. Results: The injury rate was 0.95 injuries/season/athlete and 1.05 injuries/1000 hours of practice. The most frequent injuries were rotator cuff tendinopathy (13.6%), acute low back pain (13.6%), and patellofemoral syndrome (11.9%). Swimmers in the youth and junior categories had significantly more injuries than those in the future category (P = 0.009), possibly because of more training hours (P < 0.001). Twelve major injuries occurred, all in the same group of youth swimmers. Conclusion: This is the first study investigating trauma during artistic swimming practice. A better knowledge of the main injuries is necessary for the physician to provide optimal care for athletes and to develop prevention. Attention should be particularly paid to the swimmers' shoulders and knees.