The gadget helping Kiwi canoe racing athletes edge ahead. Video / Sport NZ
With the Olympic Games near, New Zealand's canoe racing athletes are looking to edge ahead of the competition - with the help of a small gadget known as 'The Rover'.
The advanced GPS device, also known as 'Big Brother' to some, is fitted to their boats, enabling detailed analysis ofathlete performance in a training environment.
As Alicia Hoskin explains, the name 'Big Brother' comes from the device knowing more than you; a nod to George Orwell's novel 1984.
"It's definitely a reality check but that's what we use them for, to know exactly where you're at at that point and time, so you know what steps to take to get to where you want to be."
While an athlete is paddling, coaches and analysts gather real-time data such as heart rate and speed, and they can ask the athlete to make an immediate change in order to make the boat go faster.
The Rover has been used by canoe racing athletes since 2014, but what's made the difference is the Goldmine software team, also based at High Performance Sport NZ on Auckland's North Shore, who have developed software to enable more advanced analysis of each boat, which is then used to enable performance improvements.
Hoskin, who is heading to Tokyo with the women's canoe sprint team, has seen the device improve her performance dramatically.
The 21-year-old will race in the K4 500m with double Olympic champion Lisa Carrington, Caitlin Regal and Teneale Hatton. She will also team up with Hatton for the K2 500m.
Caitlin Regal and Alicia Hoskin will compete for New Zealand at the Tokyo Olympics. Photo / Photosport
Hoskin says in the K2, she sits at the front of the boat, often known as the stroke.
She says The Rover makes a big difference when stroking, because it's finely tuned to execute the race plan.
"It tells me I need to hit 80 stroke rate off the start, then come down to 62 after 150 metres. There's a lot of things I need to hit in order to execute a good race. Actually being able to know what my style is, what those numbers are, what points of the race I need to hit them at is really helpful when executing."
HPSNZ Head of Performance and Technique Analysis Paul McAlpine says it's an advantage being in the same facility as the Goldmine team, allowing them to analyse data and make changes instantly.
"I can walk through a door into the Goldmine office and request software upgrades, and the build, design and maintenance is all in house."
Canoe Racing New Zealand coach Gordon Walker praised The Rover and its software.
"For us coaches it's a big deal, because we get to see the real-time data.
"You can help them perform in training sessions much easier."
