Swimming injuries are almost automatically associated with the shoulder. That is understandable, but it may be too narrow a view.
A new scoping review from September 2026 screened 4,394 publications and included 58 studies involving competitive swimmers in the analysis.
Load, injury history and muscular imbalances
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Among the most commonly reported risk factors were training volume and intensity, previous injuries and muscular imbalances.
Yet all of the intervention studies examined programmes aimed at the shoulder or back. The knee, hip and other regions were considered much less systematically.
Prevention has to consider the whole athlete
This is an important practical correction. A few external-rotation exercises with a resistance band do not automatically make a complete injury-prevention programme.
A more sensible approach combines shoulder and scapular control, trunk stability, mobility, lower-extremity strength and appropriate load management.
The training programme itself is a risk factor
The importance of volume and intensity is particularly interesting. Injury prevention therefore does not begin only in the gym after the pool session.
Abrupt increases in load, competition periods and the response to emerging symptoms also belong in planning.
The review does not provide one universal 15-minute programme. That is precisely its strength: it shows that injury prevention in swimming is not a single shoulder routine, but a system of load, movement, strength and individual history.
Document symptoms early
A simple weekly check of pain, training volume and unusual fatigue can help identify changes earlier. Prevention then becomes continuous rather than reactive. If symptoms are taken seriously only once swimming training has to be missed, much of the potential early-warning window has already been lost.
SCIENTIFIC SOURCE
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42752299/