Using the Online Ranking as a Training Tool

For those who haven’t discovered it yet, the Concept2 Online Ranking is a very large and constantly growing database of best times for twelve different distance/time pieces on the indoor rower or SkiErg. Results have been submitted by rowers and skiers from around the world. Its thousands of entries can be readily sorted by event, age group, gender, weight class, country, state, adaptive category and more. The online ranking can be a very useful resource and training tool, even if you never choose to post a PR and rank yourself.

On May 1 of each year, we “roll over” the online ranking, putting the previous year’s results into the archives, and starting fresh. So the number of ranked pieces starts at zero every May, and grows until April 30 of the next year. Past years going back to 2005 are also searchable, giving the curious athlete or coach plenty of data to chew on. How fast is fast? Often people ask what is a "good" pace to row or ski. It’s a hard question to answer without knowing someone well, but you can get a good sense of pace by looking at the online ranking. Check out the top times, convert them to pace (you can use our Pace Calculator) and see how they compare to the pace at which you usually row.

Curious to know how you stand for the 2k distance? Or a half-hour piece? Just set up a search for your age group, gender and weight class, and you’ll have the results in seconds. You can click through the pages to see where your time would put you. You will also see a summary box that lists the times for the 90th, 75th, 50th and 25th percentiles. And you can then compare your performance from year to year, too.

What are the online ranking distances and times? For distance pieces, the online ranking includes 100k, the Marathon (42,195m), the half-marathon (21,097m), 10k, 6k, 5k, 2k, 1k and 500m. For timed pieces, the online ranking includes 1 hour, 30 min, and 4 min. The pieces you want to rank must match one of the online ranking distances or times exactly in order to be submitted. The best way to do this is to set your Performance Monitor for the exact distance or time you want to submit. Visit the How To pages for your Performance Monitor for instructions.

The data in the online ranking can help you identify your stronger and weaker points in terms of conditioning. For example, if you rank in the top quartile for the 1 hour piece and the bottom quartile for 500 meters, that suggests you have good endurance but are lacking in power. You can then adopt a training plan to improve your weakness. Interested in communicating with a fellow athlete? We’ve created a system that gives you the option of allowing other online ranking users to contact you, but without giving them your email address. And in reverse, you will be able to contact any other online ranking user who has enabled this feature. By clicking on the envelope link next to a name, you can fill out a form to send email.

To enter your own times into the online ranking, you will need to set up an Online Logbook. It's free and easy—register here.