THE IMPACT OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN RETIRED WORLD-CLASS ROWERS

Flannery, M. D., Canovas, R., Janssens, K., Mitchell, A. M., D’Ambrosio, P., Spencer, L. W., ... & La Gerche, A. (2025). Atrial fibrillation in former world-class rowers: role of environmental and genetic factors. European heart journal, 46(47), 5114-5125.

By Joe DeLeo

Understanding the long-term cardiovascular health of elite endurance athletes is critical because intense, prolonged training—while beneficial for fitness—may paradoxically increase the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), a serious heart rhythm disorder that can lead to stroke and other complications. This investigation examines whether the elevated AF prevalence observed in former world-class rowers results primarily from the extreme physiological demands of elite competition or from underlying genetic predisposition, or a combination of both factors.