GEIM Rower Claims Gold Invention Award in 2022 WRCA+

In the summer of 1998, Keith Monahan collaborated on a study with the Olympic men’s quarter-final team that subsequently won gold in 2000. Double-blind experiments were performed to verify the effectiveness of the GEIM rower as a dynamic boat simulator and to determine the degree of agreement between the stroke force/length curves generated on the boat and the GEIM rower.

After the group of eight outings, the crew was instructed to row at a rowing speed of approximately 30 s.p.m on the boat simulator. in standard strokes. The boat simulator is then adjusted so that the gearing “feels” the same as the boat. Each crew member is required to row at a paddling frequency of 30 s.p.m. They closed their eyes and imagined them rowing among eight people. The results showed that after a few strokes, each reproduced their curves with high accuracy. However, surprisingly large differences were found between the curves of different individuals.

Two weeks later, during an outing with the Dutch Eight, the crew’s typical stroke profile was recorded on the boat at a stroke rate of 33. These records are also made without direct feedback to the paddlers. Very similarities were found between the trip curves recorded on the boat and the dynamic boat simulator. The actual difference between each person’s GEIM rowing curve and the boat curve is very small.

As shown above, it shows the force-length distribution for seats on board and on the GEIM rowing machine. From these experiments it can be concluded that there is a very good similarity between the force/length curves on the GEIM rowing machine. In conclusion, the GEIM rower is a very useful tool for improving stroke curves and eliminating stroke curve differences among crew members.

The stroke curves recorded using the GEIM rower training system and software fully represent the curves measured on board.

So now we know that the force/length curves made on the GEIM Rower align with similar curves made in the boat, and they give immediate bio-feedback to the rowers. This makes it an essential tool for improving technique and for synchronising crews. The shape of this force/length curve depends on the technique, and gives a clear insight to the coordination between legs, back and arms during a stroke. This force/length curve, therefore, can be used to detect technical flaws, and to diagnose causes.

The graph “stroke profile modification” above illustrates what can be achieved in terms of improvement of coordination in a short time. This graph shows how deficiencies in the force length curve of a novice sculler have been eliminated in a period as short as 2 months.

So we can see that the Americans developed that system that is getting good results with it. For the rest of us that want direct feedback and don’t have access to a system like that, we can use the GEIM Rower and its direct feedback gives very similar information of our power application as we row.