1 Relationship of Anthropometrics and Fitness Level between Elite and University Male Rowers Azreeany Abdul Rahim 1,2,3 , Norasrudin Sulaiman 1,2 1 Sports Science Centre of Studies 2 Faculty of Sports Science and Recreation, Universiti Teknologi MARA 3 Correspondent Author: azrean87@yahoo.com Abstract: Successful competitive performance is particularly associated with four main characteristics which are skills, anthropometrics characteristics, appropriate psychological attitude and physical fitness of individual athletes. Prior to that, selection of athletes for a particular sport should focus on those traits and abilities which have the most significant impact on sport performance. Hence, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between anthropometrics and fitness level among rowers. It was consisted one hypothesis as there was no statistical significant relationship on anthropometrics and fitness level among elite and university male rowers. Thirty male rowers (elite = 15, university = 15), aged 20 to 30 years old participated in this study. The design of this study was an ex-post facto design. The method involved quantitative assessment of anthropometrics (height, weight, body fat percentage, body length, breadth and girth) and fitness level tests (flexibility, power, relative strength, muscular endurance and aerobic fitness). The findings showed significant positive relationship between nine of the anthropometrics measurements, which were height (r=0.76), sitting height (r=0.65), arm span (r=0.64), arm length (r=0.73), forearm length (r= 0.54), thigh length (r=0.74), leg length (r=0.63), shoulder breadth (r=0.43) and calf girth (r=0.55) with all fitness level variables among the elite and university rowers in this study. It can be concluded that anthropometrics and fitness level have a strong relationship toward rowers’ performance. Keywords: anthropometrics, fitness level, Elite rowers and University rowers. I. INTRODUCTION Rowing has recently become a sport for talent identification. In selection of athletes for a particular sport, especially for biomechanical and kinesiological investigations into the technical performance of rowers, are rare and coaches depend on the overall mentality of technique [16]. It has been established that no single parameter measures physical fitness and that variable composite factor was involved in each sport. Thus, physical fitness may contain a number of different elements including maximal oxygen uptake, local muscle endurance, muscle strength, and body composition [9]. Elite athletes in sports such as rowing differ in physical and physiological characteristics. The researcher may expect the elite athlete to represent an expression of genetic, physical training, nutrition, and socio cultural factors. As Olympic an sport, rowing requires technique, tactics and a high level of physical fitness and body size which are undoubtedly performance related factors [7, 23, 24, 28]. Some of the physical fitness and anthropometrical variables are considered as requisites for high performance in rowing competition. The performance achievements of Olympic athletes come from a unique mixture of features and capabilities developed by way of training. Determining factors such as physical size and framework which may result in the best performance can assist the exercise researcher and physical trainer in choosing and creating skilled athletes [1]. In selection of athletes for a particular sport, the focus should be on those attributes and capabilities which have the most significant impact on sports performance, such as physiological and anthropometric characteristics [16]. In the sport of rowing, skill recognition programs have attempted to identify potential young athletes using various performance factors, including several anthropometric data gathered at Olympic Games level to accomplish this skills recognition strategy. The latest extensive anthropometric study of rowers was conducted at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 [1]. Physical structure is an important factor that contributes to success in rowing [28] and evidences indicate that anthropometric characteristics have influenced over rowing performance [8]. Indeed, rowing is a type of strength-endurance game, challenging high stages of both aerobic and anaerobic