Recent | Page 13 | Concept2

45 Years Young

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Nov 03, 2021
The old Concept2 farm complex
It was a chilly gray day in November 1976 when the Dreissigacker caravan of Dick. Peter, Peter's future wife Bari, and all their belongings, pulled into the old Vermont farm that would become the home of Concept2. They had spent the last year designing a faster oar for their own use, and thought maybe it had a future. Or if it didn’t, they would design something else. So they formed a partnership and Concept2 was born. Continue Reading ›

Pete Reed: An injury, a SkiErg and the Pursuit of Progress

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Aug 31, 2021

In September 2019, Pete Reed had just retired from full-time rowing to return to the Royal Navy. One of Great Britain’s most decorated Olympians, he won gold in three consecutive Olympics and was famous in testing for having the world’s largest recorded lung capacity.

During naval training, Reed started to feel ill and went to the hospital where he suffered a stroke in the middle of his spine. The condition is extremely rare and doctors are unsure what caused it. It left Reed paralyzed from the chest down. The Olympian was determined to make the best possible recovery.

The first step was to enter rehab, where Reed started to gain back his strength. One of the tools in his pocket?: the SkiErg. “Getting settled into rehab, I knew that I wanted to try the SkiErg,” Reed says. “There were a few reasons. I knew the movement pattern, I knew that I could do it. It's important to me that it's very accessible, so it's easy to just roll up to it, in my wheelchair and then just grab the handles and off I go.” It is hard to take the athlete out of someone like Reed, and accordingly, he made himself a plan. He started in small increments.

Pete Reed (right) training on the SkiErg
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Tags: Adaptive, SkiErg

Behind the Scenes at the Tokyo Olympics

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Aug 19, 2021

Concept2 was honored to have staff on the ground at the Tokyo Olympic Regatta. Oar technicians Matthias Zink from our German office and Bob Beeman from our US headquarters were there to assist with competitors' needs, whether for a last-minute tune up on equipment or for unexpected problems, like damage from travel or a collision on the course. Bob Beeman is familiar face to many of the athletes, as he's been supporting athletes at regattas all over the world for many years. Here he shares a little behind-the-scenes scoop! Continue Reading ›

Tags: Olympics

Paralympian Blake Haxton prepares for Tokyo

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Jul 20, 2021




As a senior in high school, Blake Haxton fell ill. Within a couple of days his condition deteriorated drastically and he was diagnosed with Necrotizing Fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease. In his incredible and odds-defying battle, Haxton had both legs amputated. But he recovered, finished high school and went to college. Although he temporarily hung up his oars, Haxton never went too far from the rowing club, acting as a coach during his undergraduate years. After learning to row all over again, he's now preparing for his second Paralympic Games and he has taken on a new challenge. He will race in both rowing and canoeing, competing over the full two weeks of the Paralympic Games. Continue Reading ›

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