If we want to unlock the full potential of incredible data analysis tools like RowerUp, we first need to address the culture of data secrecy in our sport. Our current technology has so much to offer.
This all came to mind with the recent events at the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race that revealed just how quickly race situations can turn around, where things could have ended very differently for Cambridge. In an interview between Martin Cross and the stroke of the Cambridge Men’s VIII, Matt Edge talks about how he pushed his body to the absolute limit, blacking out before the finish, nevertheless, had secured the victory for his crew. While we celebrate his grit, his near-collapse highlights the fact that performance data could actually help us understand what it is to row to the very edge of our human capabilities and keep athletes safe at the same time. Martin Cross said that in rowing we are all called to row until we can row no more. What was most remarkable was that Matt refused to give up and brought his crew home with the victory.
But it could have all gone very wrong for Matt and for Cambridge. How would Matt have been treated if he had crabbed, if Oxford had been closer, smelt the blood in the water and rowed past to take the win? Matt said that he had a blackout during a school boy cross-country race but had considered it an isolated event. Were these really isolated events? We need to question our current attitudes about data disclosure, in-boat medical episodes and how can we better protect the safety of our athletes during racing.
In the image of Matt Edge collapsing at the finish line we can see that he had a heart rate monitor and using NK gates which provide essential personal data about his performance. Yet during the race, cox Ed Bracey would not have had access to Matt’s data nor be able to isolate the data of other individual rowers. Having this data would have enabled the cox to see that there was a problem developing, and even possibly prevent the unfolding events. He may have been able to see Matt’s high power and elevated heart rate and told him to step it down. With visible data, he could have seen that the power off the start had far exceeded what had been planned and given the commanding position they were in, the cox could have adjusted the numbers. With the luxury of Cambridge’s lead, the cox could have afforded to make some data-led in-race decisions. The degree of medical concerns about Matt’s condition at the finish should now be transferred to preventive measures.
In my opinion the cox, coach and the organisers need to have access to these live numbers to ensure the safety of the crews competing. Proceeding the race, this data should also be available to enable research into the data by sports scientists to enable the sport to further its understanding of biomedical high performance parameters. The data from Matt’s performance and the medical episode that occurred could be of great interest and value to the wider sports medical and scientific community. Being able to compare his race data to that of previous datasets could help high-performance coaches and medical practitioners better understand the nature of ‘rowing until you can row no more’.
Our attitude towards data recently came up when I spoke with Segey Nudel, the co-founder of RowerUp. RowerUP is recognised by the world best as a strategic tool that will deliver results for elite athletes. Those who have put their names to it are formidable, the likes of Thomas Lange, Bernhard Stomporowski, Martino Goretti and Axel Dickinson. RowerUP is a video analysis tool that enables you to upload videos of rowing both in the boat and on a machine. Your motion is quantified and transposed into a host of angles, rates of acceleration and degrees of efficiency.
The level of detail is extraordinary and you are able to compare your rowing with others around the world, those of your crew, and even world champions. Working with historical footage and current international elites, the algorithm has established 16 classic styles that you can compare yourself against and are provided with a somewhat “gamified” total score percentage at the end of each stroke. You can go into finer degrees of analysis as shown by world leading sport scientists like Valery Kleshnev of Biorow who said “RowerUP opens very promising possibilities to discover many new insights of rowing technique and progress of our knowledge.”
I am not saying that all data needs to be made public, just available to researchers and to World Rowing who need to take responsibility for the welfare of all competitors. Performance data is not only a critical tactical in race element but also provides essential research avenues, but also, having the data available could be an exciting spectator element to further appreciate the levels that our heroes go to to carry their crew over the line. The data provided by RowerUp could help us to understand and shape even more finely tuned athletes but not if its kept private. I believe that governing bodies need to take the lead to push for a more open data culture to secure rower safety and drive the sport forward.
Until then, if you are going to pass out in a boat, make sure you are well in the lead.
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