Blood gas analyser helps GB Rowing Team

A monitoring technology used in hospitals has helped the GB Rowing Team to train for the current World Championships in Bled, Slovenia.

As the team’s High Performance Partner, Siemens Healthcare has provided them with a RAPIDPoint 350 Blood Gas analyser (pictured), which helps to monitor the athletes’ adaption to intense training.

By monitoring their blood gases, the team can identify any imbalance that might lead to loss of breath or development of a stitch.

The RAPIDPoint analyser is small, lightweight (less than 8kg) and easy to use in a wide range of environments. It delivers results in just 2 minutes.

David Tanner CBE, the GB Rowing Team’s International Manager, commented: “The use of the Siemens RAPIDPoint 350 is a very good example of the partnership between Siemens and the GB Rowing Team. There is no question that this has helped the GB Rowing Team to improve performance on the water.”

According to Chief Coach Paul Thompson, “Using this analyser allows coaches and support staff better to monitor, direct and individualise the rowers’ programme to maximise the training effect and their race readiness.”

Helen Glover, World Cup winner 2011, offered a user’s view: “The testing involved with the RAPIDPoint 350 is painless and non-invasive. The results have been very helpful to me in understanding how my body reacts to intense periods of training.”

“Our RAPIDLab300 is a small, low-maintenance and easy-to-use system, making it ideal for hospital critical care environment and a huge range of other testing environments, including sport,” said Afia Boamah, Blood Gas and Stratus CS Product Manager at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.