Archinisis Blog: When performance meets real-time data: British Rowing and Archinisis' story

"We hope this partnership proves as rewarding for Archinisis as it has been for us."

Dr. Jodi Cossor, British Rowing Head of Performance Support

"Unique" – that's the word Dr. Jodi Cossor, British Rowing's Head of Performance Support, used to describe this past rowing season. It was Jodi's first experience supporting the team in year one of an Olympic cycle with the team, and the novelty of the experience, combined with British Rowing's achievements, made it all the more special. The Great Britain Rowing Team (GBRT) brought home six medals from the European Rowing Championships in Bulgaria and dominated the World Rowing Cup series in Varese and Lucerne, to name a few highlights.

In the past, British Rowing faced a major challenge: the lack of real-time, actionable data during training sessions. Without immediate insights into key metrics such as stroke rate, boat speed, and crew dynamics, coaches could only address quantitative performance issues after the session had ended, limiting their ability to adapt on the spot and optimize athlete preparation. Recognizing that timely, detailed data was essential to unlock every athlete's full potential, British Rowing began searching for a solution that could deliver comprehensive, instant feedback during training.

The organization initially heard about a system from Australia, but it was not available commercially. They then turned their attention to the UK, though none of the options fully met their standards. That's when their Biomechanist, Dr. Conny Draper, became a contributor in the development of a system in Switzerland: Archinisis. Having a world-leading expert contributing to the project immediately inspired trust. That trust quickly grew into lasting confidence. Dr. Benedikt Fasel, founder of Archinisis, has impressed the team with both his expertise and his ability to adapt the system to their evolving needs.

Since then, British Rowing has been using the Naos sensor regularly during training and competition. This year, Archinisis became their official Performance Data Provider.

"We have eleven of the old sensors, so when we purchased twenty from Archinisis, we thought that would be enough. But success breeds success, and now more coaches are eager to use it for their crews as well."

This GBRT boat competing at HRR has the Archinisis sensor inside the orange box

The real-time feature has enabled a more flexible, and much faster, way to review competitions. Jodi added, "Thanks to the system, we were able to be here in the UK, while the team was in another country for a competition, see the race reports, and send a WhatsApp to the coaches. They could view the reports before the athletes were even off the water. It saves us so much time and makes everything far more efficient."

What made this unique season even more rewarding were the positive comments from coaches after the first World Cup. "That kind of positive reinforcement makes it all worthwhile. Being able to feel included during regattas, even when in a different country, has strengthened collaboration within the British Rowing team."

"If I had to describe Archinisis' services in one word?
Game-changer."