Aim: To provide epidemiological data on flat-water kayaking injuries of the upper body in Greece. Specifically, to assess the body part that sustains most injuries, the exact time period that injuries occur during a season, the type of musculoskeletal injury and the total injury rate using a descriptive study. Methods: A retrospective injury surveillance took place during the Greek kayak flat-water 2013 championship from 12th to 14th July at "Schinias" Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre in Athens aiming to collect data of injury caused by sprint kayaking within a season period (dating from August 2012to July 2013). For this reason, a questionnaire, which was designed via the adaptation of previous retrospective questionnaires referring to different forms of kayaking, distributed to participants in order to gather information regarding paddlers` characteristics and the injury event. Descriptive analysis of the data was performed. Results: 145 paddlers participated in our study. From these samples, 142 athletes responded to the questionnaires. The results are:56 paddlers (39.4%) reported that they had had one or more injuries during the season. The shoulder (21.1%) was the most injured body part followed by the wrist (7.7%) and the lower back (7.7%). Tendinitis (41.9%) was the most frequently reported type of injury followed by strains (25.8%) and sprains (6.5%).According to the research, January (6.3%) and February (6.3%) were the months when most of the injuries had occurred followed by March (4.2%). The total injury rate was 1.96 per 1000 hours of exposure. Conclusions: This study provides valuable epidemiological data concerning the upper body injuries on flat-water kayaking. This could help future investigations on the risk factors and the injury prevention strategies.
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