'StrokeCoach' time and stroke rate counter
Maker
Nielsen - Kellerman Co
Date1990s
Object number00037240
NameStroke counter
MediumPlastic, metal, electronic componentry
DimensionsOverall: 60 x 87 x 234 mm, 0.1 kg
ClassificationsToys, games and souvenirs
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Nielsen Kellerman Australia Pty Ltd
DescriptionAttached to the gunwale of the rowing shell the StrokeCoach™ allows a sculler to read their own stroke rate and time.HistoryFitness and training have always played an important part in rowing. The early training manuals concentrated on diet, posture and descriptions of the correct stroking method. Rowing technology remained fairly primitive until the 1950s when Professor Frank Cotton at the University of Sydney invented the ergometer enabling the coach to measure a rowers stroke technique and power. The development of computer technology in the 1980s and 1990s led to the sophisticated electronic gear that dominates rowing today.SignificanceThe StrokeCoach™ demonstrates one of the major technological developments in modern rowing. All contemporary rowing shells are now equipped with sophisticated examples of this technology.
