Objective To carry out a systematic review to update the scientific evidence on the incidence and prevalence of injuries in the swimming discipline, as well as the location, type, and mechanism of the injuries, and to assess whether studies are meeting methodological recommendations for data collection and injury surveillance. Type Analytical‐Systematic review. Literature Survey The databases of PubMed and Sportdiscus were used to search for studies that describe the epidemiology of injuries in adult swimmers between 2010 and March 2020. Methodology Of the 864 articles identified, 14 studies were finally included in this review. The methodological quality of the studies was analyzed with the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) scale and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Synthesis The results showed a high prevalence of shoulder, knee, and lower back injuries among swimmers due to overuse. These injuries were mainly short‐term tendon muscles; there were reported data differences between genders. Conclusions Despite the publication of an injury surveillance single and multisport events document and a consensus on data collection and injury surveillance in swimming, there are huge methodological limitations that do not allow firm conclusions. As such, more epidemiological studies following guidelines for data collection and injury surveillance are needed to establish differences by gender, age group, and swimming stroke.

The objective of the present study was to analyze (based on gender and the style of swimming) the kinematic parameters of the transition phase between underwater swimming and surface swimming after the push-off start in competitive national swimmers. Seventy-four swimmers participating in the Spanish Swimming Championships were filmed and analyzed by DLT-2D photogrammetry during the start with the push-off in crawl, backstroke and butterfly styles. Between genders there were small differences in the distance and speed of transition. The male swimmers travelled greater distances (0.84 ± 0.04 vs. 0.66 ± 0.04 m, η2 = 0.05, F = 10.34, p < 0.001) and they were faster (1.59 ± 0.03 vs. 1.38 ± 0.03 m/s, η2 = 0.08, F = 19.54, p < 0.001) in the transition phase than female swimmers. Among styles there were greater differences in time (η2 = 0.47, F = 94.50, p < 0.001) and transition distance (η2 = 0.38, F = 67.08, p < 0.001), than in speed (η2 = 0.05, F = 5.63, p < 0.001). During the backstroke push-off, swimmers spent more time (0.88 ± 0.04 s) and distance (1.17 ± 0.05 m), this being the slowest style (1.37 ± 0.04 m/s). In butterfly, athletes used less time (0.26 ± 0.03 s) and distance (0.39 ± 0.05 m) whereas crawl was the fastest of all (1.57 ± 0.04 m/s). These results allow the phase of transition from underwater to surface swimming to be characterized and to provide useful data for competitive swimmers and coaches to improve performance.

No abstract

The primary goal of the present research was to determine the order of swimmers on a mixed relay team that would ensure the best performance in the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) World Championships held in Kazan (Russia, 2015), Budapest (Hungary, 2017), and Gwangju (South Korea, 2019). The data were obtained from database websites for the 4 × 100 m freestyle and 4 × 100 m medley official results,1 including 660 records from 188 entries of finals and 472 preliminary events. The results showed that the fastest swimmers (according to their best season times) were located primarily in the first or second positions of the freestyle relay. The most successful gender strategy for the 4 × 100 m freestyle (57 out of 82 observations) and for the 4 × 100 m medley (29 out of 83) relays was the order male-male-female-female, although no statistical differences were found (p = 0.79) for the medley relays. In the 4 × 100 m freestyle, the second (p = 0.002; β = 1.62) and third (p =0.003; β = 1.41) relay legs had a statistical effect on the total relay time, whereas in the 4 × 100 m medley, all four relay legs had a statistical effect (p &lt; 0.001) on the final performance, the weight of the four strokes being different in heats with respect to the final round. Also, a later position of the first female swimmer or the consecutive position of two female swimmers in the team order significantly affected the relay performance in specific events. Mixed relay events appeared to present specific strategies in comparison to traditional male- or female-only relay lineups.

No abstract