St Edward's Academic Review 2025

ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

• Injury was also a variable in the used data. At some point during the rowing year, various athletes experienced injuries that would impact their test performance due to time off or altered training programmes. If the sample was larger, it would be more likely that the proportion of rowers that had been injured in the last six months would be lower and therefore a less notable variable. This research determines the relationship between the anthropometric measurement height and performance of an athlete in rowing. It is clear from pre-existing research that is available online and in books that there is much discussion over the relevance of height and erg performance. The limited nature of the experiment somewhat compromises the information gathered about the relationship between erg time and height, and due to the difficulty of controlling the many other relevant variables such as weight and experience it was difficult to obtain clear data about the correlation between height and erg time. The research does not give evidence that there is a relationship between the height of a female 16- to 18-year-old school-level rower and their 2k erg time. It shows the difficulty of proving through physical data that taller athletes have faster 2k erg times and leads to the conclusion that there is no clear relationship between these variables. The written research, which considered data from rowing experts such as Nolte (2020) does imply that there is a connection between the two that should not be overlooked and perhaps through altering the experiment by controlling more variables and having a larger sample it may be possible to find a stronger relationship. The difference in calculated Spearman’s rank between the March and July 2k erg test is interesting as the relationship between height and erg time does become clearer, which suggested a slightly stronger correlation between taller athletes and faster erg times four months later. Given that the sample only represents one gender, it must also be questioned whether the relationship between height and erg time could be more distinct within males. Ultimately there is not enough data relating to experience to draw any definite conclusions as to whether the trend between height and erg time is more dominant in environments with experienced rowers. Conclusion

it could be possible that a stronger relationship would be established.

The results of the Spearman’s rank test demands that the hypothesis stating that the athletes that are taller will be able to achieve a quicker 2k erg time than those who are shorter, should be rejected in favour of there being no correlation between the height and the 2k erg time of this sample of female athletes. There are a few variables that are worth accounting for when reviewing these results: • The planned experiment does not account for the varying levels of experience that these athletes have. Due to the small community of rowers, it is highly likely that the athletes had been rowing and erging for different amounts of time. Increased familiarity and comfort in this sport would naturally result in a more confident rower who is less likely to struggle with the demands of a 2k erg test. Due to the small sample size, it was not possible to control the level of experience that athletes had. If this experiment was to be repeated with the intention of improving the validity of results, it would account for the different levels of experience of the participants. • Mental tolerance and resilience also impact a 2k erg time. 2k tests being widely regarded as an opportunity for athletes to prove themselves and achieve target times, there is often a lot of pressure on the athlete to perform well. This means that athletes who have less mental tolerance and resilience will find it much harder to maximise their performance. The nature of a 2k test makes it easy for athletes to give in and not perform as well as they could. This is a variable that would be hard to control in an experiment. However, through controlling the amount of experience athletes have in this sport, it would be easier to ensure that athletes have similar resilience. power’ (Pulman, 2004). This experiment did not account for the weight of the athletes solely focusing on their height, which makes it difficult to determine the extent that weight can affect a 2k erg test. Therefore, to adapt this experiment, I would take measurements of the athlete’s weight or recruit a sample of athletes that were within a set weight class. • Weight heavily impacts a 2k erg test. Heavier athletes can be stronger as they can ‘exert more

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