MESSAGE FROM MUSTAPHA LARFAOUI
FINA President
It is my pleasure to welcome all the delegates in Manchester (GBR) for the 16th FINA World Sports Medicine Congress, to be held on April 7-8, 2008.
Since the first FINA Sports Medicine Congress, which took place in 1969 in London, the conferences and presentations submitted during the last 15 editions represent a source of information that continues to be useful to our athletes, coaches, clubs and Federations.
Three goals preside to this initiative:
- To preserve and if possible to improve the athletes’ health;
- To ensure their physical and mental condition through a harmonious activity;
- To maintain, whenever possible, the equality of chances between competitors
Our Federation is proud of being one of the few International Sport Federations that, for so many years, carried out a policy of information and exchange of knowledge and ideas in the wide field of sports medicine.
Being also one of the FINA’s goals to disseminate and accelerate the participation of young competitors in our sport, it is of relevant importance to detect, correct and prevent the health or injuries problems that are inevitably associated with the practice of any physical activity.
This year, I particularly salute Professor Arne Ljungqvist, IOC Member in Sweden, WADA Vice-President, and Chairman of both the IOC Medical Commission and the WADA Health, Medical & Research Committee. We thank him for accepting being the presenter of the 2008 Bleasdale Memorial Lecture.
I also address FINA’s gratitude to the Organisers of this Congress in Manchester (GBR), but also to all members of the FINA Sports Medicine Committee under the efficient leadership of Dr Margo Mountjoy.
I am sure that our 194 FINA Member National Federations will benefit from this debate. Our main goal is to be useful to them.
To all of you I wish a fruitful Congress and a nice stay in this lively city.
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Children in aquatic sport: a shared clinical responsibility
Prof David Gerrard
Dunedin School of Medicine
University of Otago, New Zealand
Associate Professor David Gerrard is currently Associate Dean, Dunedin School of Medicine and the Faculty of Medicine Director of Clinical Skills at the University of Otago. He is a consultant sports physician with research and clinical interests in sports medicine, medical education and drug misuse in high performance sport. He is Chair of Drug Free Sport New Zealand, a member of both the FINA Sports Medicine Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency Medical Committee. A former Olympian and a Commonwealth gold medalist swimmer, he has attended seven Summer Olympic Games as an athlete, team physician, Chef de Mission and Medical Commission member for FINA.
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Abstract
Children in aquatic sport: a shared clinical responsibility
Aquatic sport typically attracts young participants. Children acquire skills from an early age with, for the most part, very positive outcomes. Swimming provides an excellent stimulus for musculoskeletal and motor development as well as ensuring the safety of children in aquatic leisure activities. Young sufferers of asthma also commonly benefit from swimming. The subsequent progression to formalised, competitive swimming carries a small but significant potential for health risks that are the focus of this paper. Whilst the developing musculoskeletal system responds positively to the biomechanical stimulus of exercise, there are recognised levels of “tolerance” that provide a sensible framework for strategies to avoid typical “overuse” injuries. This is a shared responsibility for coach, parent and physician. The young swimmer is prone to clinical entities such as "swimmer's shoulder," "butterfly swimmer's back," and "breastroker's knee." Coaches play an integral part in recognising the early indicators of these injuries and may assist in their prevention. No less debilitating for the preadolescent swimmer are the “non-orthopaedic” clinical problems that may affect training and competitive progress. Common amongst these are chronic viral infections, acute or chronic aural infections, dermatological problems, asthma, anaemia and chronic fatigue syndrome with its attendant psychological implications. Clear guidelines for medical management and the use of permitted medications in accordance with the WADA drug list are also relevant.
References
Emery, CA. (2005) Injury prevention and future research. Med Sport Sci. 48: 179-200.
Giza, E and Micheli, LJ. (2005) Soccer injuries. Med Sport Sci. 49: 140-169.
van Mechelen, W and Verhagen, E. (2005) Essay: Injury prevention in young people: time to accept responsibility. Lancet 366 Suppl 1:S46
Gerrard, D.F. (2005). Medical Issues related to swimming. In: Stager J.M, Tanner, D. A, eds. Olympic IOC Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science: Swimming. Blackwell Publishing, London, 138-149
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