Row by Numbers: how data was used by Martino Goretti to become World Champion

I had the privilege of being a small part of a gold medal World Championship campaign and I would like to share with you some insights I had during this time and reflect on what it took Martino Goretti to be the best in the world.

1. Martino knew his machine numbers.

If you are serious about becoming a world champion you need to be data focused. The data from every training session must be recorded, analysed and logged. Gathering, reviewing and analysing performance numbers both on and off the water was a daily devotion of Martino. This enabled him to set many C2 machine records and won countless indoor rowing medals. Through numbers, Martino knew the parameters of his body, what he was capable of, how fast and how hard he could push himself. He spent years on the rowing machine to harden his mind and body. Martino turned his fear and hatred of the machine into an Italian love affair. He appeared to meditate on the hum of the flywheel and understood its motion. Martino’s energy application was completely optimised to explosively spin the fan up to speed. The peak of each stroke was reached right when all his biomechanics were choreographically synchronised. After each stroke he would race to pick up the flywheel before it started to languish and all its positive momentum was never lost.

2. Martino knew his on water numbers.

Despite all appearances the measuring of performance gains or losses in rowing is extremely difficult. This is intentionally so. In cycling, quantifying performance is very simple through the use of power meters. Power is measured in watts to see how much energy is being expended by the athlete. Watts is a simple raw number that is not affected by wind, heat, weather conditions, road surface, incline or cadence. Watts measures how much an athlete is putting out. Power meters were first used to great effect by Team SKY- they rode with both eyes glued to their power meters and appeared to ignore their competition. And it worked! Calls are still being made to ban power meters from cycling. On the other hand in rowing, FISA will not allow any form of power measurement and athletes only have access to Pace per 500m, Rate, Elapsed Time and Heart Rate. These numbers are all affected by relative external conditions like wind, stress, heat, stream and flow. This effectively means we have no idea how hard we are truly working. What is really required is persistent longitudinal analysis to make rowing numbers meaningful. Through careful analysis a rower must learn how their body performs in various conditions, alternating rating and perceived effort. Again, this level of understanding only comes from years of studying your own performance data but critically by having a self-devised standardised or benchmark test. Martino could interpret his numbers precisely because of his use of benchmark testing. Benchmark testing ensured that his training, diet and equipment were optimised. Martino’s test was 4 x 2000m at rating 24, another at 26, 28 and 30 and was conducted most weeks and sometimes more than once. By comparing one weeks data to the next, windy conditions to calm, humid to dry, Martino could make meaningful decisions about his training. This was the only way he knew if he was improving and after years he could recognise the sound that the water should make under his hull or how the wind should sound as he raced off the start at 42 strokes per minute.

3. Martino knew his equipment settings 

To become a world champion you need to understand every measurement of your equipment. Martino spent countless hours fine-tuning rigging and was able to understand the effect of making one incremental change or another. Coupled with his regular speed test, he would know if any change was effective. Martino could tell you every measurement of his rigging and why he had arrived at a certain setting, span, distance or pitch. Before every race he would make adjustments to ensure his settings were suitable for the conditions. He could tell if C2 or Croker oars would give him faster boat speed or if his new Flippi single was any faster than the last.

4. Martino was not defined by past results only by current goals. 

To become a world champion you need to continually look to the future and not dwell on the past. Martino first contacted me after a disappointing bronze medal at the 2019 European Championships. He had underperformed and was well beaten in perfect conditions but knew that he could do better. He had only recently made the transition from sweep rowing where he had been a pivotal member of multiple World Championship crews and two Olympic representations. Martino had had a long distinguished career and there would have been no shame in him walking away at that point. Yet, he felt it was time to show the world what he alone was capable of as a single sculler. He wasn’t going to give up – not yet! He was determined to go to the World Championships and had only three months to create an improved data set.

5. Martino was a data innovator

Martino believed that if you don’t have the right mindset towards innovation you have lost from the start. If you don’t change what you are doing you will never get a different result. It is the same with innovation, you have to have an open mindset to have the best outcome. Martino was always looking for ways to improve and innovate and was the first rowing crew to use ‘smart’ glasses during his Rio Olympic preparation. Although not permitted for racing, smart glasses presented new forms of data in real time which proved to be an ideal tool for training. When Martino heard that FISA had certified a new blade design he was keen to see if the Randall foil would work for him. This open mindedness and willingness to test for himself the new foil blade design would prove to be critical in his eventual success at the World Championships. Martino conducted benchmark testing and found that he was gaining up to 15-second speed increases with the foil. This speed gain would be enough to make up the deficit in his previous race and give him a leading margin. Martino spoke about the Randall foil design in this video https://youtu.be/sXaCu7p5nlE.

6. Martino let the numbers speak for themselves.

Martino was surprised that more people were not trying the foil, but understood because it is difficult to trust in something that nobody has used before. It takes courage to be different and to go against the opinions of others but Martino was able to do so with confidence because of his data and the testing he conducted. He knew that he was faster than ever before – numbers don’t lie. The Italian Federation made Martino do a trial 10 days before the World Championship and people weren’t convinced;

“Everyone was saying you’re crazy, you’re crazy, nobody has ever raced with the foil – but after 300 meters the race was finished – I was having a lot more speed.”

Just it happened in the Italian trial, Martino was in the lead after 300 metres in every race at the World Championship and his gold medal position was never challenged. Watch all of Martino’s World Championship races here – https://youtu.be/5x6UoxBsKPs

In conclusion, becoming world champion takes a lot of work, on and off the water. By focusing on your numbers and you can ensure that every decision you make is based on evidence, numbers and data analysis.

And, it’s ok to be a little crazy!

–Compare Martino’s race data–

2019 European Championship – https://drive.google.com/file/d/122x_dEsiedFg-lfH48mcSrob9Bip1EK1/view?usp=drivesdk

2019 World Championship – 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EqfCGf1TZyOhew8-83MB_YV4ZSOPAeNP/view?usp=drivesdk

About The Author

Ian Randall

See author's posts