Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> <bold>Background</bold> Genetic studies are conducted in athletic populations to understand the influence of genotype on phenotype, with the prospects of identifying talent, designing individualized training programmes, and predicting injuries in sports. Despite extensive research on improving water sports performance, the effects of various genetic polymorphisms on competitive performance remain unclear. <bold>Objective</bold> This systematic review aims to identify key gene variants associated with on-water sports and assess their influence on performance. <bold>Methods</bold> To fulfill this aim, a systematic search was conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed until 6th October 2024, along with a secondary search of the included full-text articles. Studies examining the associations between genetic variants and on-water sports performance (rowing, canoeing, kayaking, sailing, surfing, and rafting) and meeting the Hardy‒Weinberg equilibrium criteria were included, and the risk of bias was determined. <bold>Results</bold> A total of 28 articles (6 high risk-of-bias) were included and reviewed (22 rowing, 4 kayaking, 5 canoeing, 1 each on surfing and rafting and none on sailing) that examined 17 different variants (ACE, ACTN3, AMPD1, CKMM, GABPB1, GDF8, HFE, HIF1A, MCT1, NOS3, PPARA, PPARGC1A, TFAM, UCP2, UCP3, VEGFR, and VEGFR2) from 8 different populations (Russians, Polish, Spanish, Brazilians, Hungarian, Australian, Turkish, and Chinese) associated with performance. The available evidence was inadequate for performing a meta-analysis and determining whether any of the genetic variants identified in this review were associated with sports performance. <bold>Conclusion</bold> Although several structural and functional genes and their polymorphisms have been identified that are associated with on-water sports performance, further collaborative genome-wide association studies and gene expression and gene‒gene interaction studies are needed in larger populations of different ethnicities to investigate additional possible genetic variants and the role of these gene polymorphisms in enabling success in sports. </p>