Rowing Injuries and Related Factors in Competitive Rowing

Background The sport of rowing is growing at both the competitive and recreational levels either on the water or with ergometer machines. Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the injury pattern among professional rowers in the Sri Lanka army in view to prevent from injuries and develop the rowing performance in to an internationally recognized level in the future. Methods The descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in competitive period with 46 professional rowers in the Sri Lanka army in the age range of 20-33 years. An interviewer administered questionnaire was used to obtain information of demographic data, injury patterns, training volume and rowing techniques. Results The prevalence of injury in male and female rowers was 68.8 % and 57.1 % respectively. The type of injury observed for female and male rowers were lower back (21.4 %, 37.5 %), knee (14.2 %, 12.5 %), hand and wrist (7.1 %, 3.1 %), hip (14.2 %, 0.0 %), shoulder (0.0 %, 12.5 %), ankle (0.0 %, 3.1 %) and chest (7.1 %, 12.5 %) respectively. The mean value for training volume of indoor and water training were 12 hours and 15 hours per week respectively. Both Sculling and sweep rowing techniques correlated significantly with certain injury sites for both male and female rowers. Conclusion The prevalence of injury was significant in the Sri Lankan rowers. The anatomical sites most commonly affected were the lumbar spine and the knees. The injury incidence is also directly related to the rowing techniques and volume of training.