"ADAPTIVE ROWING EQUIPMENT LIST." FISA (n.d.): n. pag. World Rowing. FISA. Web.<http://www.worldrowing.com/uploads/files/Indoor_Rowing_Equipment_List.pdf>.

 

This source lists the currently accepted equipment in competition adaptive rowing. At the moment, this list only includes 16 items, showing how limited manufacturers and rowers are. I hope to use this source along with the FISA rules to understand what equipment is missing from this list, and still allowed by the rules.

 

 

Bloomquist LE. Injuries to athletes with physical disabilities: Prevention implications. Phys Sports Med. 1986;14: 97–105.

With its comprehensive, well-organized data regarding a study of disabled athlete injuries, this article will provide me with a “powerful research tool [that] can assist in identifying injury trends and rates, monitoring the effects of prevention or intervention programs, and making rules changes and/ or equipment modifications.” It will be a great model for my paper, and a valuable source of data for comparison.

 

"Capstone Projects - 2003 – Adaptive Rowing Device for Person with One Arm." Mechanical Engineering Technology. The University of Maine, 2003. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <http://umaine.edu/met/capstone-projects/2003-adaptive-rowing-device-for-person-with-one-arm/>.

 

A group of University of Maine mechanical engineering students took on a project to build a device that allows people with only one functioning arm to row. The source does not include any text describing the process or the product. Although this source is not too helpful in terms of information, it does have a few pictures of different prototypes, which helped me think about what I may be able to do my project on, and how to better present my product.

 

 

Curtis KA, et al. Survey of wheelchair athletic injuries: common patterns and prevention. Paraplegia. 1985;23:170-5 <http://www.nature.com/sc/journal/v23/n3/pdf/sc198529a.pdf

This research paper is an analysis of a survey given to paralympic athletes from a variety of sports. Just like my paper, it lists the most common injuries, their causes, and preventative measures. In their data, they list the sports the athletes who responded answered played, which did not include rowing. This not only gives me a great model for a survey for something similar to what I am doing, but it also shows me that there is room for my research in this field.

 

Cutler, Bradley R. "Electronic Resources." HKUL. University of Hong Kong Libraries, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2015. <http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/ER/detail/hkul/5128703>.

 

Seeing as "this study provides several strong considerations for researchers, coaches, and athletes in an effort to promote participation in sport and mitigate injury" it seems to be a perfect source. In its summary, it talks about some forces acting on different types of adaptive rowers and the difficulty people may have identifying the roots of injuries. It also suggests that Classic JACK software, normally used for office ergonomic assessment is a great tool for determining force application in rowing. However, only the summary of this article is available to the public, so the information one can acquire from this source is relatively limited.

 

Ferrara MS, et al. A longitudinal study of injuries to athletes with disabilities. Int J Sports Med. 2000;21:221-4. 27.

 

This research paper "investigated the number and type of injuries that occurred to athletes with disabilities from 1990 - 1996." Because this research was done with such a large subject pool (1039 respondants), it has a lot of valuable data. However, the most interesting and helpful part that I took away from this paper was the organization of their injury data by body part and type. I will likely use this setup in my own paper. 

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Hawkins, D., and A. Baudouin. "A Biomechanical Review of Factors Affecting Rowing Performance." British Journal of Sports Medicine. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, 2015. Web. 9 Mar. 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fbjsm.bmj.com%2Fcontent%2F36%2F6%2F396.full>.

 

This article goes into the physics behind an efficient, powerful rowing stroke. He discusses the optimal force and drag reduction that can be achieved by rowers. Although he does not discuss the biomechanics of adaptive rowers, knowing from where the injuries are originating will help direct me towards what can be done to support the athlete most effectively.

 

Hetzler, Tona, EdD, ATC, Amy E. Smith, ATC, and Doug Rempe, PT, ATC. "Amputee Athletes, Part 1: Foundational Knowledge." International Journal of Athletic Therapy & Training (2014): 33-38. Human Kinetics Journals. Human Kinetics, Mar. 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/ijatt.2013-0104>.

 

Because this source is used by athletic trainers to better get acquainted with amputee athletes, it will be a fantastic resource for me to do so as well. In the article, authors define the terminology used by and for disabled athletes, identify the classifications of paralympic athletes, discuss the best treatment approaches, and describe the phenomenon of phantom pain. Although I may not need all of the detailed information on trainer-patient processes, becoming more knowledgeable about disabled athletes' condition. And, as the author said, "By understanding the terminology relevant to this population, ATs will be more capable of interacting with the athlete and other health care providers."

 

Lewis, Karen M. "USRowing." About Adaptive Rowing. Ed. Volker Nolte. Rowing Faster, 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. <http://www.usrowing.org/DomesticRowing/AdaptiveRowing/AboutAdaptive.aspx>.

This is a relativley general overview of adaptive rowing that I will use in one or more of my background paragraphs. However, this is a bit more extensive than the paralympic site, including the sport's history, challenges, subsections, safety concerns, and some equipment. Though not a great resource for specific digging, it will be a good baseline for background information.

 

 

Nilsen R, et al. Complications that may occur in those with spinal cord injuries who participate in sport. Paraplegia. 1985;23:152-8.

This article was another describing the injuries and maladies contracted by disabled athletes. In this case, the authors focused on those with spinal cord injuries. They followed 61 athletes, who participated in weight-lifting, pulking, swimming, volleyball, callisthenics, horseback-riding, archery, table tennis, dog-sledging, and/or canoeing, and surveyed which had complications and injury. They also documented the amount of hours that the athletes participated in sports and the level of their paralysis. This study is another good model for me to base mine off of, and also shows that research about disabled rowers has yet to be done.

 

 

Patatoukas D, et al. Disability-related injuries in athletes with disabilities. Folia Med (Plovdiv). 2011;53:40-6. 

 

This paper "investigates the relationship between the different disability groups, as a risk factor, and the type of injuries in Greek athletes with locomotor disabilities participating in paralympic sports." Again, this study of 139 subjects does not include rowers, and does not focus on equipment as cause, but will provide me with quite a bit of important data.

 

Regulations, 2012 Fisa Adaptive Rowing. "2012 FISA ADAPTIVE ROWING REGULATIONS." World Rowing (2012): n. pag. WorldRowing.com. World Rowing, 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2015. <http://www.worldrowing.com/uploads/files/8_2012_Adaptive_Rowing_Regulations_201011.pdf>.

 

Paralympic rowing rules can be found in the “Boats and Construction” section of World Rowing’s 2012 Adaptive Rowing Regulations. In this section, the required qualities and locations of straps is given, which is relatively specific, requiring non-elastic material, no mechanical buckles, easy-release mechanisms, and straps around the trunk or legs depending on the class of athlete. However, within the clause is a rule that states that any other straps may be added or modified as long as the changes are within the rules laid out above. This ensures that my mission is plausible.

 

 

Smith, Andy, and Nigel Thomas. "The Politics and Policy of Inclusion and Technology in Paralympic Sport: Beyond Pistorius." International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics 4.3 (2012): 397-410. The English Federation of Disability Sport. English Federation of Disability Sport, 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2015. <http://www.efds.co.uk/assets/0000/6474/OO178.pdf>.

 

“This article re-examines some of the complex policy issues and politics associated with two key features of the contemporary Paralympic sport movement: the inclusion in mainstream sports competitions of disabled athletes and the sports in which they complete, and the use by disabled athletes of various technologies to assist their performance.” It will therefore be very helpful in informing my discussion of the role of technology in adaptive rowing and where it can and/or should be legally modified.

 

 

Smoljanovic, Tomislav, MD., PhD. "Complete Inclusion of Adaptive Rowing Only 1000m Ahead." World Rowing (n.d.): n. pag. World Rowing. WorldRowing.com, 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.

 

This is an absolutely fantastic resource because it includes a chart of 34 studies, of which I have cited many, all about adaptive rowing injuries and epidemiology. In fact, I was planning to make a similar graphic for my paper, but I will use their and hopefully improve upon it, making it easier to read and fitting it to the thesis of my paper. I hope to also use the individual data points from each study to create a recategorized, comprehensive chart, rather than simply summarizing the findings of each study.

 

 

Smoljanović, Tomislav, Ivan Bojanić, Courtney L. Pollock, and Radovan Radonić. "Rib Stress Fracture in a Male Adaptive Rower from the Arms and Shoulders Sport Class: Case Report." Croatian Medical Journal. Croatian Medical Schools, Oct. 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2015. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3195974/>.

 

This publication is about a specific case study of an adaptive rower who endured a stress fracture in his rib. It goes into the possible causes related to his equipment, the issue of equipment advantage, the worries of overworking, and the required recovery to come back from his injury. The author also differentiates between all-rower problems and just adaptive rower problems, which has been an issue I have had quite a bit of trouble finding information about. Therefore, this article will be a great reference for adaptive-specific information in terms of injury cause.

 

 

"The Design." QuadCrew Rowing. University of Delaware, 27 Feb. 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. <http://quadcrewrowing.com/the-design/>.

Like my project, this one stresses the importance of adaptive rowing and its technology. However, this team has taken a slightly different angle. They have tried to create engineering solutions that allow a wider range of people with disabilities to participate. They include some information on their design, and discuss the reasons why they began the project. Although their mission is a bit different than mine, it is still a great example of how engineering can improve para-rowing, and I will likely cite it in my conclusion section.

 

Van De Vliet, Peter, and Nick Webborn. Paralympic Medicine. N.p.: Elsevier Limited, 7 July 2012. PDF.

 

This article is about paralympic medicine in general, not specifically rowing, but its level of detail in divulging the different types of injuries that adaptive competitors endure is very valuable. It also discusses some issues and controversies that I want to address in my paper as well, such as the extent to which equipment can provide advantages for some athletes over others. This is mentioned in the article's "Equipment" section. The author's bibliography may also prove extremely useful, with about 50 citations.

 

 

Webborn, Nick, MB, and Carolyn Emery, PhD. "A Descriptive Epidemiology of Sport and Recreation Injuries in a Population-Based Sample: Results from the Alberta Sport and Recreation Injury Survey (ASRIS)." Canadian Journal of Public Health / Revue Canadienne De Sante'e Publique 89.1 (1998): 53-56.University of Brighton. University of Brighton. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. <https://www.brighton.ac.uk/_pdf/research/sesame/descriptive-epidemiology-of-paralympic-sports-injuries[1].pdf>.

 

This article pulls together and discusses the data found in most of the other studies that I have cited. Therefore, it is a great resource for numerical data. However, they also spends a large portion of the paper talking about the problems with the previous studies. The issues they discuss, such as small sample size, imprecise definition of injuries, inconsistency, and incompleteness, will help me improve my survey and rethink how I should analyze the data I receive.