Swim Strong: Common Swimming Injuries and How to Avoid Them

Selected theme: Common Swimming Injuries and How to Avoid Them. Dive into practical wisdom, motivating stories, and coach-tested tactics to keep you in the water, pain-free and progressing. Share your questions and subscribe for weekly drills designed to protect your body while you swim faster.

What Typically Hurts—and Why

Most swimming injuries cluster around the shoulder, especially impingement and rotator cuff tendinopathy. Repetitive overhead strokes, poor scapular control, and a dropped elbow catch overload tissues. Improve alignment, strengthen stabilizers, and refine your catch to reduce friction and keep mileage sustainable.

What Typically Hurts—and Why

Breaststroke places unique stress on the medial knee and hip due to external rotation and sweeping forces. Poor timing and excessive flare magnify strain. Focusing on narrow recovery, controlled rotation, and balanced hip strength dramatically lowers the risk of the classic “breaststroker’s knee.”

High-Elbow Catch and Soft Entry

Enter fingertips first, relaxed, and extend forward without crossing the midline. Initiate a high-elbow catch that anchors water rather than muscling through. This position loads larger back muscles, spares the shoulder, and transforms repetitive strain into efficient propulsion that feels smooth and sustainable.

Breathing and Body Rotation

Rotate through the torso rather than lifting the head. Breathe early in the window, then return quickly to neutral. Balanced rotation distributes force across the chain and reduces neck and shoulder stress. Consistency here keeps your stroke symmetrical and your tissues calm under rising yardage.

Strength and Mobility for Durable Shoulders

Use external rotations, prone Y/T/Ws, and serratus presses to teach your shoulder blades to glide and upwardly rotate. Two to three short sessions weekly help the cuff support the humeral head, reducing impingement risk as yardage rises and sets intensify during training cycles.

Strength and Mobility for Durable Shoulders

Open the upper back with foam rolling, sidelying open-books, and thoracic extensions over a bench. Better thoracic extension supports a higher elbow catch and cleaner breathing pattern. Posture drives shoulder mechanics; small daily mobility wins compound into fewer aches and stronger, smoother water feel.

Protecting Knees and Hips in Breaststroke

Recover heels gently under the hips, rotate outward from the hips, then whip the feet together along a streamlined line. Avoid excessive knee flare and snapping from a wide position. A narrower, well-timed squeeze protects ligaments while producing effective, repeatable propulsion every length.

Protecting Knees and Hips in Breaststroke

Train Copenhagen planks for adductors, clamshells and bridges for glutes, and dead bugs for core control. This balance supports clean rotation and closing power without dumping force into the knee. Two brief sessions weekly often turn chronic irritation into confident, sustainable breaststroke sets.

Recovery, Load Management, and Red Flags

Cycle hard, moderate, and easy days. Add a deload every three to four weeks. Increase total yardage and intensity by no more than ten percent weekly. Listen to emerging soreness patterns; nudging volume gently beats stubborn spikes that inflame tissues and stall your adaptation curve.

Prioritize sleep, rehydrate promptly, and include carbs plus protein within an hour post-swim. Light mobility in the evening helps tissues settle. Contrast showers or easy walks can downshift the nervous system. Share your favorite recovery ritual below so the community can try it this week.

Seek a clinician if pain sharpens, persists beyond two weeks, or limits daily tasks. Numbness, catching, or night pain warrant assessment. Early guidance often means minor tweaks, not months off. Ask in the comments for a checklist you can take to your next appointment.

Ears, Skin, and Pool Hygiene

Dry ears gently after sessions, tilt and drain each side, and consider alcohol–vinegar drops if approved by your clinician. Well-fitted caps reduce water turbulence around the ear. At the first hint of itch or fullness, act early rather than waiting for a painful blockage.

Ears, Skin, and Pool Hygiene

Rinse promptly, use gentle cleanser, and apply a barrier moisturizer. Consider vitamin C sprays to neutralize chlorine film. Check goggle seals to prevent chafing at the orbital bones. Healthy skin tolerates volume better, avoiding small irritations that accumulate into unnecessary missed training days.

Real Stories, Real Fixes

Maya, a collegiate freestyler, battled shoulder pinching every taper. A coach corrected her crossing entry and added serratus work. Two weeks later, pain faded, distance-per-stroke improved, and her split dropped. She now logs soreness notes and invites accountability from lane mates after harder sets.

Real Stories, Real Fixes

Luis loved 200 breast but dreaded the ache afterward. Shifting to narrower recovery, Copenhagen planks, and vertical kicking intervals changed everything. The knee settled, tempo rose, and his confidence followed. He posted his underwater clip, got feedback, and inspired two teammates to fix their kicks.

Real Stories, Real Fixes

A masters group started ten-minute mobility after practice and scheduled alternating intensity days. Over eight weeks, shoulder complaints dropped, attendance rose, and personal bests returned. They now share weekly recovery goals in a chat. Join our newsletter to get their template and adapt it yourself.

Real Stories, Real Fixes

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