Some of this has been spent on state of the art technology, such as goggles plus bum bag, receiver & battery pack. Instead of looking at the water the crews look at computer generated information in front of their eyes
The idea for the goggles came from the Australian Institute of Sport, then was ‘unashamedly plagiarised’ when the Brits persuaded the Australian’s biomechanist to come & work for them. The British rowers have become experts in their use, but what exactly they have learnt ‘will remain trade secrets’
A further £60,000 has been spent on electrical instrumentation within the rowlocks, with further unspecified sums spent on someone to analyse & interpret the information. Yet another biomechanist has been responsible for this, and he too is ‘not in the business of sharing trade secrets’ & ‘giving the opposition a leg up’
It is not entirely clear from the article whether these aids can be used during the actual races - I assume not. But I still cannot see why it is OK to gain an advantage through the advice & ministrations of a biomechanist, but not a biochemist
