BaselHead2024 Race Recap

Back to the overview
Benedikt, November 20 2024
This year, Archinisis proudly sponsored the boat "SuperSport.ch - Archinisis - DiBi" at BaselHead, featuring a selected international crew of Olympians from the Netherlands, Italy, and Switzerland. The team showcased their prowess by securing second place in the morning's 350m sprint and finishing fifth in the afternoon's classic 6km race.
Photo of the crew preparing the boat
We outfitted the boat with our proprietary system alongside the Peach force measurement system, generously provided by Conny Draper. In the coming weeks, we'll publish a series of posts exploring various aspects of the race, offering unique insights into the intricate relationship between rowing force, power, and boat movement - details rarely shared publicly. This first post provides a general overview of the boat's performance during the classic 6km race.

The crew

Photo of the crew
The crew was managed and coached by Martino Goretti and was composed as follows:
  1. Stefano Oppo (ITA) - Olympic silver medalist, LM2x (Paris 2024)
  2. Andrea Panizza (ITA) - Olympic silver medalist, M4x (Paris 2024)
  3. Luca Chiumento (ITA) - Olympic silver medalist, M4x (Paris 2024)
  4. Barnabé Delarze (SUI) - Louis Vuitton Cup finalist, two-time Olympian
  5. Finn Florijn (NED) - Olympic gold medalist, M4x (Paris 2024)
  6. Simon van Dorp (NED) - Olympic bronze medalist, M1x (Paris 2024)
  7. Jan van der Bij (NED) - Olympic silver medalist, M8+ (Paris 2024)
  8. Gabriel Soares (ITA) - Olympic silver medalist, LM2x (Paris 2024)
Cox: Jonna De Vries

The course

BaselHead takes place on the river Rhine in Basel, Switzerland. The Mirabaud Classic Race is a pursuit over 6 km where boats start at 20-second intervals. The race starts right in the heart of Basel, at the Kaserne, goes upstream to the power dam at Birsfelden, turns and finishes again at the Kaserne. The highest point, reached when the boat is turning, is about 0.8 m higher than the lowest point. Water temperature during the race was 11.2° Celsius. The weather was sunny with a little bit of wind from the East (more or less aligned with the river’s flow).

Screenshot of the race map

Performance Data

Official Time and Stroke Rate

The official race time was 18:57.51, 36.02 seconds behind the winner, "Ruderleistungszentrum Dortmund 1". The stroke rate was chosen between 35 and 36 strokes per minute with higher rates at the start, after the turn and at the finish sprint. The figure below shows the stroke rate for every single stroke. The turn is clearly visible at around 3000 m where the stroke rate has some "jumps". The red colored strokes mark the first 100 m, the green colored strokes the upstream and the blue colored dots the downstream. The color shade changes every 750m.

Graph with the boat's stroke rate

Boat Speed and Acceleration Pattern

The boat speed clearly differed between upstream and downstream, reflecting the influence of the current (more about this in a later post). 500 m time for upstream was between 1:45 and 2:00 and for downstream between 1:15 and 1:20. The color-coded satellite overlay further exemplifies this large difference between upstream and downstream.

Graph and satellite image with the boat's 500 m time

The acceleration pattern was very consistent and regular throughout the race, highlighting the crew's top level. No difference could be observed between upstream and downstream. The crew was also able to perfectly pace themselves as no increase in irregularity or a change in the pattern towards the end can be observed. If your crew achieves such a pattern, they are ready for the Olympic games (but there is still room for improvement, more about this in a later post).

Graph with the boat's acceleration pattern

For those of you who see such a graph the first time: it shows the color-coded boat acceleration. The acceleration is cut at every stroke, during the acceleration minimum in the check phase, and stacked on top of each other. The very first stroke is on the bottom and the last stroke on the top. The duration of a stroke is the length of each line towards the right.

Take Home Message

This information quickly provides a comprehensive overview of the boat's performance. It serves as a versatile tool for verifying hypotheses and assists both the coxswain and rowers in selecting the most effective strategy. The same data was collected during three training sessions prior to the race (twice on Friday and once on Saturday morning before the sprint), enabling the coxswain and the rowers to determine the optimal trajectory and pacing strategy.

Picture of the crew getting performance feedback from Conny Draper

By providing such data to the crew, each member gains a deeper understanding of their performance. They can identify specific areas with potential for improvement and quantify these opportunities, thereby enhancing motivation for training and increasing overall efficiency.

We will explore these aspects in greater detail in subsequent posts.