"Throughout our training for our Atlantic row we used the WaterRower machines and apparel. Our main motives for using WaterRower were taking advantage of low-impact home-rowing, and most importantly trying out the seat that we were to take with us across the Atlantic.

I struggle with lower-back pain, which is naturally exacerbated by rowing. The WaterRower’s smooth action reduced the pressure on my lower back and enabled me to train trouble-free.

The sound of the fan-wheel moving through the water is not only rather soothing, but is quiet enough to allow me to train at home in front of the TV, alleviating the boredom factor of spending so long on an ergo.

When we decided to have a crack at breaking the World Record for rowing a million metres on an ergo, we realised that comfort was going to be crucial to our success. The WaterRower’s low-impact action helped to prevent us from straining our muscles and tendons; and the soft seat enabled us to row 1 hour shifts with minimal discomfort. As a result we smashed the previous World Record by nearly 5 hours, setting the new mark at 67 hours 24 minutes and 14 seconds.

The comfort factor was also absolutely vital when rowing the Atlantic. We realised that if we were to spend 9 weeks sitting down, we needed to be as comfortable as possible. Unfortunately the salt water causes such atrocious damage to your behind that real comfort is a distant memory; but for 63 days, rowing 1 hour on and 1 hour off – with 2 weeks at the end of 2 hour shifts during the day – I never suffered from the pressure-related pains that are the bane of most Ocean rowers. The hardest part of the row, for me, was in tolerating continuous discomfort, which at times was excruciating. Minimising pain was a huge factor in maintaining a positive mentality and I was absolutely delighted at our seats, which were WaterRower seats bolted on to runners with a single memory foam cushion on top. Most other teams had highly elaborate, heavy and essentially ineffective seats and most other rowers suffered terribly from sciatica and pressure-related muscle pains.

I would whole heartedly recommend the use of WaterRower machines and apparel for future Ocean Rowers in conjunction with other pieces of training equipment; and most of all cannot recommend the WaterRower seat more highly for use on an Ocean crossing. Comfort is absolutely key, and the most comfortable rowing seat on the market comes from WaterRower"