St Edward's Academic Review 2025

8

The Impact of Physical Attributes on Adolescent Rowing Performance To what extent does height impact a 2k erg test in 16- to 18-year-old school-level female rowers? By Sianna Featherstone

Introduction

The infamous 2k erg test is vital in the world of rowing as it is used as a method to determine how fit athletes are and is critical to the GB trialling process. There are many variables that affect a 2k erg test: fitness, technique (which comes from familiarity with ergs), mental resilience, pain tolerance and, some argue, height. The purpose of this research is to determine to what extent height impacts a 2k erg test in 16- to 18-year-old school-level female rowers? There is a growing amount of research that supports the idea that height does have a large role in the way that individual rowers perform. Existing programmes in the UK such as British Rowing’s World Class Start programme base their first round of trialling on the height of an individual, recruiting those who are above national average height. This research will explore whether rowers that have an above average height are able to row more efficiently with faster erg performance times. Firstly, the biomechanics of rowing will be discussed, the movements required to row effectively and the importance of different levers to carry out the action of rowing, and I will consider existing research and conclusions. This analysis will include an evaluation of the rowing programme GB Start and data that supports or contradicts the argument that taller rowers are able to perform better on the ergs than shorter rowers. Secondly, the hypothesis will be tested that being taller leads to a faster 2k erg time. This will be achieved through an experiment using a sample of 11 adolescent female rowers. The hypothesis will be evaluated using Spearman’s rank corelation coefficient which will test two sets of gathered data, taken from erg tests four months apart. I hypothesize that athletes who are taller will have a shorter 2k erg time. This hypothesis is based on rowing experience and the current perception within professional rowing that height is a desirable attribute in rowing (UK Sport, 2010).