Sports Medicine: Just the Facts

CHAPTER 79 • CREW 473

REFERENCES

Caine D, Caine C, Linder K: Epidemiology of Sport Injuries.
Champaign, IL, Human Kinetics, 1996.
Jordan BD: Boxing. in Jordan BJ, Tsairis P, Warren RF (eds.):
Sports Neurology, 2nd ed. New York, NY, Lippincott-Raven,
1998.
U.S. Amateur Boxing: Ringside Physicians Certification
Manual. Colorado Springs, CO, U.S. Amateur Boxing, 2003.

79 CREW

Andrew D Perron, MD

OVERVIEW

•Whether on the water or with rowing machines
(ergometers), the sport of rowing is rapidly growing at
both the recreational and competitive levels. Today,
competitive rowing occurs at the Olympic, elite, col-
legiate, club, and high school levels.
•Virtually all rowing injuries are caused by overuse,
and the vast majority of these can be traced to training
errors or equipment problems (Karlson, 2000; Hickey,
1997; Edgar, 1995; Redgrave, 1995).

MECHANICS AND EQUIPMENT

• Boats have one, two, four, or eight rowers, who may
  have either one oar (sweep rowing) or two oars
  (sculling). Each rower sits in a sliding seat and places
  his or her feet in a pair of fixed shoes. The oar is held
  in an outrigger that can be adjusted in multiple ways
  that can vary the height, position, angle, and load per
  stroke.


• The rowing stroke begins at the catch, where the back
  and legs are maximally flexed and the arms extended.
  It is at this point where the oar enters the water.
  During the drive(power) phase of the stroke, the legs
  are extended, the back opened, and the arms flexed to
  the chest. At the finishthe oar is removed from the
  water and the blade feathered, or turned parallel to the
  water. Finally, during the recoveryphase, the body
  returns to the catch position with legs and back flexed
  and arms extended.


• Races are usually run over 1000 to 2000 m courses
  during the sprintseason of spring and summer. These

races are contested with boats side-by-side, and are

run at near maximal aerobic capacity, beginning and

ending with an anaerobic sprint. A typical sprint race

will last 5–8 min. In the fall, headraces are normally

run over a 3 mi course, where the individual boat

races against the clock. These competitions are run at

a lower intensity than sprint races, with the competi-

tor staying within aerobic capacity, and generally run

15–20 min in duration.

TRAINING

•Rowing, acknowledged as one of the most strenuous

sports (Hagerman, 1984), requires high levels of both

strength and aerobic capacity. With both a sprint

season, and a head season, rowers train nearly year-

round. A typical yearly training cycle mandates

strength and distance training in the fall, weights and

machine training in the winter, and anaerobic work in

the spring and summer racing seasons.

• The successful rower usually has a high aerobic
  capacity, with elite rowers demonstrating VO2max
  levels of 65 to 70 mL/kg/min (Secher, 1993). The
  sport favors taller athletes with an extended reach, as
  they can cover more distance per individual stroke.

COMMON INJURIES

LOW BACK PAIN

• The rowing stroke places a great deal of stress on the
  low back. It is maximally loaded at the catch, or fully
  flexed position, which places large forces on both the
  musculature of the back, and the intervertebral disks
  (Karlson, 2000; Hickey, 1997; Edgar, 1995). One
  review on the sport found that back and knee injuries
  were by far the most common injuries to collegiate
  rowers (Boland and Hosea, 1991).
  •With sweep (one oar) rowing, the back is not only
  maximally flexed at the catch, but it is also twisted
  prior to maximal loading in order to extend the ath-
  lete’s reach. This maximal loading with the back
  flexed and twisted may result in even more back
  injury in this patient population (Stallard, 1980),
  although this has been disputed (Karlson, 2000).


• Back injury syndromes that can be seen include mus-
  cular and ligamentous strains, spondylolysis/spondy-
  lolysthesis, and lumbar disk herniation (Karlson,
  2000; Stallard, 1980; Thomas; George, 2002)


• Specifically for the rower, training errors of distance,
  technique, or intensity should be addressed. Additio-
  nally, a search for mechanical errors should occur,