Rowing is a sport where seconds, as seen in Tokyo, can truly distinguish between the unbridled elation of gold and the agonising pain of fourth place. In searching for these fractions of time, coaches pour over athlete data, finesse every rigger, and polish shells until they gleam on even dullest of days. Yet somehow, the footwear oarsmen and women use in the boat has been glossed over; a correctly-sized shoe is usually about as far as it’s taken. Bont Rowing is determined to change this.
Founded by the team who created Bont Cycling, a brand trusted in the two-wheeled world for the rugged dependability of their cycling shoes, Bont Rowing is operated as a standalone entity and has transformed shoe fitting from an art to a science. The result? Faster crews, happier athletes and healthier feet.
The brand harnesses the manufacturing expertise and production capacity of Bont Cycling however, Bont Rowing shoes are designed around more than 40 years of experience in high-performance rowing. The brand’s technical designer(s) continue to be actively involved in the sport to this day and so when they say “Bont Rowing shoes are designed by rowers, for rowers”, they meant it.
Bont Rowing own and control every part of their operation. Design, manufacturing, prototyping and testing is all handled in-house. Design is performed from Sydney; manufacturing of all shoe parts is handled in the Bont Rowing owned factory, which includes the carbon base manufacturing; prototypes are tested locally and abroad with some of the sport’s best athletes, along with those at club and masters level.
To truly understand the difference a good shoe can make, we dispatched Bont Rowing’s shoes to athletes across the UK.
A fundamental building block of the Bont Rowing shoe is its Carbon Fibre split sole, which allows the shoe to transfer power more efficiently by stiffening the conducting material and improves comfort at the catch by enabling the foot to flex in an anatomically correct fashion. Indeed, as Becky Wilde comments, “My toes did not feel squished at the catch!”
“The size guide, taking in the length of the foot at the catch, measured me a size and a half bigger than normal which was surprising.” Becky explains. “I went with it and on arrival they immediately felt a lot more comfortable than the shoes I have worn previously.”
Her thoughts on this innovation are shared by Seb Benzecry, winner in light blue of the 2021 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, who writes, “What stands out immediately is the effectiveness of the split-sole design… it brings all the stiffness and rigidity that one would expect from a high-end rowing shoe, allowing for an effective transfer of power onto the footboard, but also allows for a range of motion that I haven’t really experienced before with shoes of this calibre.”
Another unique selling point of Bont Rowing’s range is the quality of the materials which make up the shoe’s two-piece chassis. All their shoes utilise BOA IP1 Fit System (PBR1) for fastening straps, which, as Lara Grant noted, “held my feet firmly held in place, but without them feeling restricted or squashed.”
Similarly, unlike conventional shoes, the Bont Rowing shoe deploys a memory foam innersole which, according to Lara, “creates a truly new rowing experience.”
The bane of every rower’s life is blisters, and whilst we grow accustomed to their presence along our upper palm, we could certainly do without them on our heels. To combat this hidden plague, Bont Rowing created an anatomically correct heel cup, with the help of 20,000 scans of athlete’s feet, to produce a cradle that is not only secure but comfortable.
This has some obvious improvements – such as allowing for more comfortable UT2 and speed work – but also has some more obscure benefits. For example, “During training these shoes fared well against many certain technique drills.” James Cox remarks, reinforcing the notion that optimal support isn’t only essential at Dorney but also on a chilly winter morning under the steely gaze of your coach.
But what about when it comes to competition? After all, winning races is the aim of the majority of scullers and rowers. In that respect, our two junior reviewers found that the correct shoe can be “truly transformative.”
Lara, who finished second in her final at the British Rowing Junior Championships, suggested that they “aided the strength and power of the stroke.” James, who finished third in his final, was even more enthusiastic, adding, “the Bont rowing shoes was a significant factor in determining that result.”
Overall then, our reviewers were delighted with their shoes. Not only did they feel the shoes supported their technique and application of power, but they also believed these shoes provided a stable platform upon which to build a race mentality, one grounded in confidence and trust.
Perhaps Seb sums it up best: “Generally, in my rowing experience, the only times I’ve really felt the impact of shoe design is in a negative context: shoes that are too tight causing blisters, or clumsy, oversized shoes making lateral steering movements difficult. Bont’s PBR2 shoes treated me to my first experience of the positive impact that a rowing shoe can have on performance. It is truly a shoe designed with the rower and the rowing stroke in mind and represents a significant step forward in commercial rowing shoes.
So, if you’re a sculler looking for the edge or a coach searching for the missing piece of the puzzle, investing in high-quality footwear could be your smartest move of the season. And if you’re looking for the best, there’s only one solution in our minds.
Bont Rowing is an official partner to JRN.
Cover image – AllMarkOne
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