Supporting a uK SucceSS Story: The impacT of - Research Councils ...

Biomechanical analysis
Professors Alison McGregor and Anthony Bull at Imperial College
London are helping the GB rowing team prepare for the London
2012 Games. Around four times each year, the athletes, their
coaches and physiotherapists visit Professor McGregor’s lab
where they undergo a series of tests to analyse their back and
pelvis area, which are very important areas of the body used in
rowing. The researchers use electro-magnetic sensors, which
measure how the body moves, and load cell sensors, which
measure the forces exerted by the athlete while they are rowing.
The information gathered by the sensors is fed via wires into
a computer, which displays information on screen in real-time.
The information gathered by the sensors enables the research
team, coaches and physiotherapists to make improvements to
the athlete’s rowing technique during the session. The Imperial
researchers first began to collaborate with the GB team in 2000,
just before the Sydney Olympics. The team needed experts who
could help them to understand the mechanics of the body in
detail as they wanted to reduce the amount of injuries incurred
while training and competing. The Imperial researchers were the
first to use sensors on UK Olympic rowing athletes to help them
improve performance, which in turn reduced the incidence of
injury. Later that year, the team went on to win gold at the Games.
“The researchers use
electro-magnetic sensors, which
measure how the body moves,
and load cell sensors, which
measure the forces exerted by
the athlete while they are rowing.”
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SECTION ONE : TECHNOLOGY