Associations between Multimodal Fitness Assessments and Rowing Ergometer Performance in Collegiate Female Athletes

The purpose was to examine the association of critical power from a three-minute all-out row (CP_3-min) and peak power from a one-stroke maximum test (1-Stroke) with laboratory-based fitness assessments (peak oxygen consumption [V.O_2peak] and Wingate anaerobic test [WAnT]) and 6000 m (6K) and 2000 m (2K) rowing ergometer performance. Thirty-one female collegiate rowers (20.2 ± 1.1 years, 70.9 ± 6.9 kg, and 172.2 ± 4.8 cm) participated in fitness and rowing performance testing. Pearson's correlations, linear regression, and Cohen's q were used to determine statistical relationships. Absolute V.O_2peak values displayed significant correlations with 6K_total (-0.68), 6K_split (-0.68), 2K_total (-0.64), and 2K_split (-0.43). Relative V.O_2peak displayed significant correlations with 6K_total (-0.36), and 6K_split (-0.37). CP_3-min demonstrated significant correlations with 6K_total (-0.62), 6K_split (-0.62), 2K_total (-0.61), and 2K_split (-0.99). For 2K_split, a significant difference was observed between relative V.O_2peak and CP_3-min correlations with a "large" effect size (q = 2.367). Furthermore, 1-Stroke showed significant associations with 6K_total (-0.63), 6K_split (-0.63), 2K_total (-0.62), and 2K_split (-0.44), while WAnT produced non-significant correlations. Absolute V.O_2peak CP_3-min accounted for significant proportions of variance observed with performance measures (p < 0.05). Practitioners should consider incorporating CP_3-min and 1-Stroke as additional tests for gauging rowing performance.