Welcome to our 'Hot Tips for Experts' page ... The page for those competitors who just want to row as fast as their genetic make up and willingness to train will allow. Here you'll find the tips that will make it happen. HOT TIP NUMBER 1: There is more than one damper setting! The influence of outdoor rowers on indoor rowing has been immense; after all outdoor rowing is where our sport evolved from. Most of that influence has been extremely positive and the basic rowing stroke for either indoor or outdoor rowing, when correctly performed, is essentially the same - especially over distances of 2000 metres or longer. Indoor rowers learned it from the outdoor rowers and that has been a very good thing. Not so good has been the outdoor rowers' insistence on using very low damper settings. Invariably we're informed that a 3 or 4 setting is about right for most women and a 4 or 5 setting about right for most men. What a load of old cobblers! Terry O'Neil, the great English coach once said that the correct damper setting is the heaviest setting that will allow you to cover a given distance in the shortest amount of time in good form; or words to that effect. He was absolutely right. The original Kerikeri Indoor Rowing Club at one time "owned" 90% of all New Zealand records. They invariably rowed the individual competition distances on different individual damper settings for each individual distance. Vicki Traas, with eight New Zealand records to her credit, still does.

P.B. GUARANTEE: Open-weight men and women, or lightweight men and women aged 18 years and over should try rowing the 100/300m on a 10 setting. The 100m should be rowed at 60 strokes per minute; the 300m at 46‑50 s.p.m. Take a few weeks to gradually raise the damper setting and stroke rate.

Dane Boswell, 17, damper setting 10, powers to a 14.3s 100m record