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 [[Formula: see text] (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 [Formula: see text] (2peak) values displayed significant correlations with 6K(total) (−0.68), 6K(split) (−0.68), 2K(total) (−0.64), and 2K(split) (−0.43). Relative [Formula: see text] (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 [Formula: see text] (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 [Formula: see text] (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.