Rowsandall started with a bunch of Python scripts to take rowing data from the Concept2 ergometer and visualize them, leveraging the PainSled smartphone app.
The next step was to add TCX parsing, to enable import (On The Water) rowing data, among others from CrewNerd and RiM.
Not long after we (Greg Smith from https://quantifiedrowing.com/, Mike McGuirk, an avid rowing data enthousiast, and I) were experimenting with a website, to make it easier for anyone to use the scripts, without having to learn Python.
This was more than seven years ago. Since then we’ve enabled many other tools (Nielsen-Kellerman, ActiveTools, RP3). Functionality has expanded. APIs were rolled out. Paid plans were defined and refined. It was amazing how much you can get done with one guy doing the coding and a small group of enthusiasts providing ideas and feedback.
Medals were won at all levels, by users of the Rowsandall.com platform. We enjoyed the results and the positive feedback from the rowing community.
Fast forward to today. The platform is stable, the number of users is steadily growing. In the past year, I managed to release a couple of important updates (as well as some fixes).
Still, I have decided to End-Of-Life Rowsandall. Here’s why:
- Requirements for security have become progressively more difficult to implement. At the same time, the number of attacks has steadily grown. As a result, an ever growing percentage of my time goes to implementing and upgrading security measures.
- The previous point, combined with a growing number of users, has pushed the infrastructure to more expensive configurations, and the price increases have been faster than revenue growth from paid subscriptions.
- Big players like Garmin and Strava (but also some others) have changed their Terms and Conditions. I’ve implemented everything required to adhere, but I had to spend time doing that, instead of adding rowing related features.
- My personal life has changed. Although I could manage working on new features quite well, spending less time on them when I had little time, and more when I had the time and motivation, this doesn’t quite work that way with implementing security, payment platform, or Garmin and Strava related requirements.
So, I came to the conclusion that it will be better for the rowing data platform to be part of a bigger athlete data platform.
At the same time, I want to maintain the spirit “For Rowers, By Rowers.”
It is fortunate that intervals.icu is exactly such a platform. It supports all relevant sports (running, swimming, cycling, rowing, skating, skiing, you name it), has a very active development team and a great community. I reached out to David and he agreed to work with me to make sure the Rowsandall users will love intervals.icu as their major rowing data related platform.
So, here’s the plan:
- Rowsandall.com will close business on December 31st, 2026. This is a little over a year out.
- After January 1, 2026, your Rowsandall subscriptions will not be renewed, and we will disable new subscriptions. Each subscription started before that date will get a full year of full functionality, as you’ve paid for that.
- During 2026, we will work on porting some of the most important features that Rowsandall.com users are currently missing on intervals.icu. David and I will orchestrate that, and any code that can be easily integrated on intervals.icu will do so. We will also rely on the intervals.icu community to build community plugins for some of the functionality. Rowsandall.com code base will be shared with community developers where relevant.
- We will document a data migration flow for Rowsandall.com users to migrate their data to intervals.icu.
I am a intervals.icu user myself and will continue to be a user and community member of intervals.icu.
Here is a list of functionality that we are considering to port. The list will be maintained, so feel free to suggest missing functionality in the comments.
- Web and App Integrations. Some of these apps are not active any more. Most of the integrations is just a script to be able to read a specific CSV data file and map the column names to the right fields on rowsandall.com
- Nielsen-Kellerman (API and CSV support for SpeedCoach, EmPower Oarlock)
- CrewNerd (API)
- Concept2 (API and ErgData CSV)
- RP3 (API and CSV)
- Active Tools ActiveSpeed (API)
- PocketCox (API)
- RowingCoach (API)
- Painsled (CSV)
- RitmoTime (CSV)
- Quiske (CSV)
- BoatCoach (OTW and OTE CSV)
- CoxMate (CSV)
- KinoMap (CSV)
- Hero (CSV)
- SmartRow (CSV)
- ErgStick (CSV)
- RowPro (CSV)
- Support for rowing equipment types and specifics
- Shell type
- Seat number
- Port/Stern side
- Critical Power (already supported) and Critical Stroke Rate
- Force Curve analysis and other in-stroke analysis
- Time measured Courses and Course Based Challenges
Any functionality not listed is assumed to already have an equivalent implementation on intervals.icu. If you’re not sure, feel free to post a comment.
