The Australian mens 4x coached by Alastair Isherwood is taking the latest Coxmate technology on their trip to the World Under 23 Championships in Amsterdam..
Joining the Coxmate Ambassadors programme, the crew is now using a Coxmate HC in a “Master:Slave” configuration. Far from being to do with bondage – this means there is a connector from the HC unit measuring boat speed, rating, ratio and time to a second HC which displays the numbers measured from the other unit – hence the name, ‘slave’. This allows both the stroke and the athlete doing the calls to see the boat speed data.
In the lead up to the World Championships the crew have spent time each week at either Carrum, Geelong or Nagambie doing “tempo” training at target speeds based on a results matrix analysis reflecting times indicative of medal performances at these championships in the past.
According to Alastair the Coxmate
“allows the boys to understand that rowing performance is a combination of efficiency and power, so rather than simply training by rate and always trying harder the coxmate allows us to accurately measure our speed and develop efficiency to achieve the required speeds with the lowest heart rate possible”.
In addition the Coxmate has allowed stroke analysis comparable to far more expensive equipment on the market.
Alastair is the head coach at Mercantile RC in Melbourne. The crew includes two of his home grown talent, Shane Jackson and Zac Cleaver joined by Nicholoas Barnier from Canberra Rowing Club and Ben Morley of Grammarians in Queensland.
We wish them the best of good racing from 20th to 24th July – regatta details.