Journal article 5 views
Optimisation of Performance Rowing Blades
Will Harrison 
,
Ben I Morgan,
Ben Morgan
,
Ben I Morgan,
Ben Morgan
Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology
Swansea University Authors:
Will Harrison , Ben Morgan
Abstract
Rowing blades (oars) transfer power from athletes to the water to propel a boat forward. The complex nature of fluid forces around a blade has only recently started to be understood with previous studies only investigating blades that are commercially available. The full motion of a blade spoon thro...
| Published in: | Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology |
|---|---|
| Published: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71913 |
| first_indexed |
2026-05-15T12:33:53Z |
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| last_indexed |
2026-05-16T05:23:15Z |
| id |
cronfa71913 |
| recordtype |
SURis |
| fullrecord |
<?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2026-05-15T13:33:52.0110367</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>71913</id><entry>2026-05-15</entry><title>Optimisation of Performance Rowing Blades</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>dae59f76fa4f63123aa028abfcd2b07a</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-0380-7075</ORCID><firstname>Will</firstname><surname>Harrison</surname><name>Will Harrison</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author><author><sid>d173b9887192b836956b16035581437c</sid><ORCID/><firstname>Ben</firstname><surname>Morgan</surname><name>Ben Morgan</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2026-05-15</date><deptcode>ACEM</deptcode><abstract>Rowing blades (oars) transfer power from athletes to the water to propel a boat forward. The complex nature of fluid forces around a blade has only recently started to be understood with previous studies only investigating blades that are commercially available. The full motion of a blade spoon through water is complex, with motion both longitudinal and perpendicular to the boat motion. This multidisciplinary research uses a combination of computational models with experimental analysis to evaluate how spoon shapes affect the fluid forces on a blade during rowing. The computational model used 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to evaluate the drag and lift forces around four different spoon shapes as they rotate through moving water. Each design had the same surface area, with different positions of maximum depth along their length. Experimental analyses used telemetry to measure blade forces during a series of rowing runs, for two different Concept2 blades, over different stroke rates and blade gearing. The results showed there was a correlation of R²=0.78 between the location of the spoon’s maximum depth and the lift force generated at the catch. The study also found that, a resultant fluid force change of 47.3 N, at the spoon, can promote a 10.7° ± 1.7° shift in the maximum force angle in the real world. The shift in maximum force angle highlighted how spoon design, especially regarding position of the maximum depth, affected the profile of the rowing stroke.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology</journal><volume/><journalNumber/><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher/><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic/><keywords/><publishedDay>0</publishedDay><publishedMonth>0</publishedMonth><publishedYear>0</publishedYear><publishedDate>0001-01-01</publishedDate><doi/><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Aerospace Civil Electrical and Mechanical Engineering</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>ACEM</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Not Required</apcterm><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2026-05-15T13:33:52.0110367</lastEdited><Created>2026-05-15T13:16:08.6433729</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Science and Engineering</level><level id="2">School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Will</firstname><surname>Harrison</surname><orcid>0000-0002-0380-7075</orcid><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Ben I</firstname><surname>Morgan</surname><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Ben</firstname><surname>Morgan</surname><orcid/><order>3</order></author></authors><documents/><OutputDurs/></rfc1807> |
| spelling |
2026-05-15T13:33:52.0110367 v2 71913 2026-05-15 Optimisation of Performance Rowing Blades dae59f76fa4f63123aa028abfcd2b07a 0000-0002-0380-7075 Will Harrison Will Harrison true false d173b9887192b836956b16035581437c Ben Morgan Ben Morgan true false 2026-05-15 ACEM Rowing blades (oars) transfer power from athletes to the water to propel a boat forward. The complex nature of fluid forces around a blade has only recently started to be understood with previous studies only investigating blades that are commercially available. The full motion of a blade spoon through water is complex, with motion both longitudinal and perpendicular to the boat motion. This multidisciplinary research uses a combination of computational models with experimental analysis to evaluate how spoon shapes affect the fluid forces on a blade during rowing. The computational model used 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to evaluate the drag and lift forces around four different spoon shapes as they rotate through moving water. Each design had the same surface area, with different positions of maximum depth along their length. Experimental analyses used telemetry to measure blade forces during a series of rowing runs, for two different Concept2 blades, over different stroke rates and blade gearing. The results showed there was a correlation of R²=0.78 between the location of the spoon’s maximum depth and the lift force generated at the catch. The study also found that, a resultant fluid force change of 47.3 N, at the spoon, can promote a 10.7° ± 1.7° shift in the maximum force angle in the real world. The shift in maximum force angle highlighted how spoon design, especially regarding position of the maximum depth, affected the profile of the rowing stroke. Journal Article Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology 0 0 0 0001-01-01 COLLEGE NANME Aerospace Civil Electrical and Mechanical Engineering COLLEGE CODE ACEM Swansea University Not Required 2026-05-15T13:33:52.0110367 2026-05-15T13:16:08.6433729 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering Will Harrison 0000-0002-0380-7075 1 Ben I Morgan 2 Ben Morgan 3 |
| title |
Optimisation of Performance Rowing Blades |
| spellingShingle |
Optimisation of Performance Rowing Blades Will Harrison Ben Morgan |
| title_short |
Optimisation of Performance Rowing Blades |
| title_full |
Optimisation of Performance Rowing Blades |
| title_fullStr |
Optimisation of Performance Rowing Blades |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Optimisation of Performance Rowing Blades |
| title_sort |
Optimisation of Performance Rowing Blades |
| author_id_str_mv |
dae59f76fa4f63123aa028abfcd2b07a d173b9887192b836956b16035581437c |
| author_id_fullname_str_mv |
dae59f76fa4f63123aa028abfcd2b07a_***_Will Harrison d173b9887192b836956b16035581437c_***_Ben Morgan |
| author |
Will Harrison Ben Morgan |
| author2 |
Will Harrison Ben I Morgan Ben Morgan |
| format |
Journal article |
| container_title |
Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology |
| institution |
Swansea University |
| college_str |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
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|
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facultyofscienceandengineering |
| hierarchy_top_title |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
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facultyofscienceandengineering |
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Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| department_str |
School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering |
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0 |
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| description |
Rowing blades (oars) transfer power from athletes to the water to propel a boat forward. The complex nature of fluid forces around a blade has only recently started to be understood with previous studies only investigating blades that are commercially available. The full motion of a blade spoon through water is complex, with motion both longitudinal and perpendicular to the boat motion. This multidisciplinary research uses a combination of computational models with experimental analysis to evaluate how spoon shapes affect the fluid forces on a blade during rowing. The computational model used 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to evaluate the drag and lift forces around four different spoon shapes as they rotate through moving water. Each design had the same surface area, with different positions of maximum depth along their length. Experimental analyses used telemetry to measure blade forces during a series of rowing runs, for two different Concept2 blades, over different stroke rates and blade gearing. The results showed there was a correlation of R²=0.78 between the location of the spoon’s maximum depth and the lift force generated at the catch. The study also found that, a resultant fluid force change of 47.3 N, at the spoon, can promote a 10.7° ± 1.7° shift in the maximum force angle in the real world. The shift in maximum force angle highlighted how spoon design, especially regarding position of the maximum depth, affected the profile of the rowing stroke. |
| published_date |
0001-01-01T06:23:15Z |
| _version_ |
1865321278936711168 |
| score |
11.105427 |