Designing the Ideal Crew—The Ringelmann vs. Köhler Effects in Adolescent Rowers

This study examined whether the Ringelmann and Köhler effects emerge in adolescent rowing by assessing how crew size influences performance, physiological responses and perceived exertion in youth rowers aged 14–17 years. A total of 136 competitive rowers (mean age = 15.79 ± 1.14 years) completed four three-minute maximal-effort trials on a rowing ergometer under four conditions: individual trials, two-person crews, four-person crews and eight-person crews. Objective performance indicators, including stroke rate, heart rate and perceived exertion (Borg scale), were recorded. Repeated-measures ANOVA indicated that objective performance indicators (distance and power output) remained largely stable across conditions and age groups, although some isolated and non-systematic differences with large intra-subject effect sizes emerged in the younger category (14–15 years), particularly in the two-person crew condition. In contrast, the stroke rate differed consistently across crew sizes, with higher values observed in the eight-person crew condition in both age groups. Cardiovascular responses showed minimal and transient variation between conditions. Perceived exertion differed markedly by age, with older rowers (16–17 years) reporting significantly higher effort during individual trials compared with crew-based conditions, without corresponding gains in objective performance. Overall, although crew size influenced the regulation and perception of effort, the findings do not provide support for a consistent expression of either the Ringelmann or Köhler effects in adolescent rowing, as no systematic performance losses or motivational gains among weaker crew members were evident. These results suggest that developmental differences in self-regulation and effort perception may play a more prominent role than crew size alone in shaping performance responses, with practical implications for training design and crew configuration in youth rowing.