Editing Indoor rower (section)

== History ==
[[Chabrias]], an Athenian admiral of the 4th century BC, introduced the first rowing machines as supplemental military training devices. "To train inexperienced oarsmen, Chabrias built wooden rowing frames onshore where beginners could learn technique and timing before they went onboard ship."<ref>John R. Hale, ''"Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy"''</ref>

Early rowing machines are known to have existed from the mid-1800s, a US patent being issued to W.B. Curtis in 1872 for a particular hydraulic-based damper design. Machines using linear pneumatic resistance were common around 1900. One of the most popular was the Narragansett hydraulic rower, manufactured in Rhode Island from around 1900–1960.<ref name=rowingnews>{{citation | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=M0sEAAAAMBAJ | title = The Independent Rowing News | date = 22 February 2002 | access-date = 3 February 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://physicalculturestudy.com/2016/05/06/the-history-of-the-indoor-rower/|title = The History of the Indoor Rower|date = 6 May 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Gjessing rowing ergometer.jpg|thumb|Gjessing-Nilson rowing ergometer, showing helical pulley and flywheel]]
In the 1970s, the Gjessing-Nilson ergometer from [[Norway]] used a friction brake mechanism with industrial strapping applied over the broad rim of the flywheel. Weights hanging from the strap ensured that an adjustable and predictable friction could be calculated.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Koch|first=Tim|date=2011|title=Tim Koch on Land Rowing|url=https://heartheboatsing.com/2011/12/01/tim-koch-on-land-rowing/}}</ref>

The first [[air resistance]] ergometers were introduced around 1980 by [[Repco]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Unknown|date=2018|title=SynergyAIR CVT and air displacement dynamics|url=https://synergyfitness.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SynergyAIR-CVT-and-air-displacement-dynamics.pdf}}</ref> In 1981, Peter and Richard Dreissigacker, and Jonathan Williams, filed for U.S. patent protection, as joint inventors of a "Stationary Rowing Unit". The first commercial embodiment of the [[Concept2]] "rowing ergometer" was the Model A, a fixed-frame sliding-seat design using a bicycle wheel with fins attached for air resistance. In 1986, The Model B introduced a solid cast flywheel and the first digital performance monitor, which proved revolutionary.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Concept 2|date=2021|title=Model B Indoor Rower|url=https://www.concept2.com/service/indoor-rowers/model-b}}</ref> This machine's capability of accurate calibration combined with easy transportability spawned the sport of competitive indoor rowing, and revolutionised training and selection procedures for watercraft rowing. Later models were the C (1993) and D (2003).<ref name="rowingnews" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rowinghistory.net/Equipment.htm|title=RowHist-Equipment|website=www.rowinghistory.net|access-date=15 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713122924/http://www.rowinghistory.net/Equipment.htm|archive-date=13 July 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1995, Casper Rekers, a Dutch engineer, was granted a U.S. patent for a (US 5382210A) "Dynamically Balanced Rowing Simulator".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rekers|first=Casper|date=17 January 1995|title=United States Patent US5382210A|url=https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/14/5e/4e/4f5ce031030d5b/US5382210.pdf|access-date=8 April 2021|website=Google Patents}}</ref> This device differed from the prior art in that the flywheel and footrests are fixed to a carriage, the carriage being free to slide fore and aft on a rail or rails integral to the frame. The seat is also free to slide fore and aft on a rail or rails integral to the frame.