Turning a vision into victory.
David McCagg, a gold medal swimmer and former world record holder, had a dream for aquatic resistance training that was nothing less than exceptional. Teaming with ROBRADY design—a world class studio in its own right—they created the “X1-PRO”, an innovative solution capable not only of stopping world-class athletes in their lanes, but also of delivering a completely new era of resistance training for amateur and world-record holding swimmers alike.
Questioning the Question
GMX7’s X1-PRO is the result of rethinking absolutely everything. Starting with a feasibility program, ROBRADY’s creative team, comprising of designers, engineers, fabricators and Subject Matter Experts took a fresh look at the challenge to create a truly visionary direction.
This wasn’t about just revamping a product; David’s vision pushed us to completely re-invent the aquatic training experience.
With McCagg enthusiastically on board, ROBRADY researched training technologies, developed many engineered prototypes, and continued to refine the concept until they had a 3D printed system that surpassed the expectations of the most demanding athletes – including McCagg. Yesterday’s training paradigm, consisting of antiquated buckets, pulleys, counterweights with limited distance and single lap capabilities, has been completely redefined into an amazingly clean and rock-solid device. The X1-PRO can be accurately adjusted for precise resistance and offers significantly greater distances, unlimited laps, and it all fits easily into the palm of your hand. Truly amazing.
The Deep Dive
ROBRADY’s commitment to total product development focuses on production as well as product. The studio’s Design for Manufacture (DFM) approach means that, concurrent with the X1-PRO’s development, ROBRADY was evaluating engineering and fabrication factors. The studio leveraged relationships with an extensive network of manufacturers and suppliers, setting up production schedules and completing First Article Inspections (FAI) for validation of materials and processes. By the time the project had moved into its final stages of development, the production apparatus was already moving into place.
In a matter of months, the collaboration of David McCagg’s vision and ROBRADY’s product design talent has completely re-invented aquatic resistance training - elevating it from what had been to something the athletic world has never seen before. GMX7’s X1-PRO sets a new high-bar standard for world-class aquatic training solutions armatures and professionals!
About The GMX7 Red Dot Product Award
For over 60 years, the Red Dot Award has become one of the most sought-after seals of quality for good design. Red Dot has become one of the largest design competitions in the world. Submissions for 2020 reached a total of over 6,500 entries from 70 countries. Winning a Red Dot is a very special honor for the laureates, as the award is only given to works with a high design quality. Winning a Red Dot Award is a tremendous achievement for ROBRADY design and GMX7.
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