A couple of years ago, I met Mark Campbell of Rowperfect, Australia, over the phone. I was looking for other rowing machines to use at the Iron Oarsman, which would be more space efficient and lighter to use for smaller people.
Our fleet of Concept2 machines are tightly lined up in front of a wall of mirrors which leaves little foot space for people to get on and off the machines. I am always worried about the danger of someone tripping over the metal edges of the C2 slides. I brought up this space issue to Concept2 and asked them to consider building a narrower bow slide, which would use less floor space and make getting on and off the machine safer. Concept2 was not able to make any changes and I am still worried. Luckily the Rowperfect’s foot print is roughly 9/10 narrower than the Concept2 on slides. The added floor space is invaluable to the safety of the people who row at the Iron Oarsman.
Smaller sized people welcome a lighter machine to slide back into the catch and the smooth connection through the leg drive. This feel is due to the light weight of the Rowperfect which is roughly half the mass of the Concept2 machine. This weight issue was never as clear as when I rowed Mark’s Rowperfect. After we met I was given one of six Rowperfect prototypes, which you can see in action over our webcam at www.ironoarsman.com.
Mark’s newly designed prototype gave me immediately a superior sense of indoor rowing enjoyment that was greater than my maiden voyage using the C2 slides. The feeling of a direct catch through the leg drive was crystal clear and immediate. I couldn’t help but fall instantly into a rhythm that I remembered from rowing the single scull.
My advice to any rower is to consider training on a dynamic rowing machine when rowing on land is required. Now there are two choices one is the Rowperfect and the other the combination Concept2&C2slides. Until 2000, I used to complete a quarter of my land trainings on a stationary Concept2 rowing machine. The constant back and forth movement of my body would strain my lower back and over-compress my knees at the beginning of the stroke and at the finish tighten my hip flexors. At the completion of 90 minutes of steady state rowing, I would need several minutes before I could stand straight. After the Sydney Olympics, I decided to borrow Concept2 Slides from a friend of mine and use them during my indoor rowing workouts. The feeling of floating back and forth was instantaneous and liberating. Using the slide’s pendulum effect made the decision easy to take the plunge to start an indoor rowing studio. I was right. Indoor Rowing on slides is a constantly growing success at our rowing studio. It has now been three years since I started the Iron Oarsman and our 18 Concept2 rowing machines have spun over five hundred million meters.
Go visit www.rowperfect.com.au and note all the single scull Olympic and world champions who have used Rowperfect in the past. Rest assured that as soon as the first Rowperfect rowing simulators roll of the production line, I will be updating the equipment at the Iron Oarsman with Marks fantastic machine. Sincerely, XENO
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
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