Terms of use

Last updated: 24 October 2026

The service

RowingBuddy is provided by Michel Rossier in Switzerland (see Contact). It is free to use. An account is optional; with it you can choose to back up your rows and to put your best results on the leaderboards. If we ever add paid features, we will show you their price and terms before you can buy anything.

A beta

The web version of RowingBuddy is a beta: a test version that we are still building. Worlds, workouts and features may change, move or disappear, and things may break more often than in a finished game. Please tell us when they do.

Who runs it

RowingBuddy runs on Laravel Cloud, with Cloudflare and Resend helping to store rows and send emails. Which data they handle, and where, is in the privacy policy.

Your rower

RowingBuddy works with SmartRow, with the WaterRower S4 monitor and with rowers that use the standard fitness Bluetooth protocol. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by SmartRow, WaterRower or any other rower maker. SmartRow, WaterRower and other product names are trademarks of their owners; we use them only to say which rowers work with the game. We can’t promise that every rower, phone or browser works with the game.

Your account

• You must be at least 16 to create an account, or have a parent’s or guardian’s permission. Playing without an account is open to everyone.
• One account per person. Give a real email address and keep your password to yourself. You are responsible for what happens under your account.
• Choose a username that doesn’t impersonate anyone and isn’t offensive. We may change or remove names that are.
• You can delete your account at any time in the game.

Fair play

Leaderboards only mean something if the rows on them are real. Don’t upload rows you didn’t row, or rows changed by hand or produced by software. Rows that look impossible are held back until we have reviewed them; if you think we got one wrong, write to us. We may remove results from leaderboards, or close accounts, that break these rules.

There are no prizes on the leaderboards.

Using the service properly

Don’t try to break into, overload or disrupt RowingBuddy, copy the leaderboards or other data with automated tools, or create accounts automatically. Don’t use the game for anything unlawful.

What belongs to whom

The game, its name and logo, its worlds, graphics, music, voices and sounds belong to us or to those who licensed them to us. Don’t use the RowingBuddy name or logo in a way that suggests we made, back or endorse something we didn’t. The game also uses open-source software, listed with its licences on the open-source licences page; those parts remain under their own licences. You may use RowingBuddy for your own, non-commercial rowing. You may not copy, sell or redistribute it or its parts, or take it apart to reuse them.

Your rows stay yours. If you choose to appear on the leaderboards, you allow us to show your username, flag and best results there for as long as you stay on them.

Your ideas and feedback

We’re glad to hear what you think. If you send us feedback, ideas or suggestions, you allow us to use them freely to improve RowingBuddy, without paying you or naming you.

Ending your account

You can stop using RowingBuddy and delete your account whenever you like. We may suspend or close an account that seriously or repeatedly breaks these terms, and will usually tell you first. What happens to your data then is in the privacy policy. Your history on your device stays with you.

Your health and safety

Rowing hard is demanding, and chasing a time on the leaderboard can tempt you to push past your limits. You decide how hard you row and are responsible for your own health. Stop at once if you feel chest pain, dizziness, shortness of breath or unwell, and get medical help if it doesn’t pass. If you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, are pregnant or are unsure whether hard exercise is right for you, talk to a doctor first. RowingBuddy gives no medical advice.

Set up your rower, phone and screen so that nothing can fall or get in your way, and keep your eyes free for rowing safely.

No guarantees

We work to keep RowingBuddy running and your data safe, but we can’t promise it is always available or free of errors, and we may change or end features. Keep in mind that your history also stays on your device. As far as the law allows, we are not liable for lost data or for indirect damage. This does not limit our liability for damage we cause intentionally or through gross negligence, or for injury to life and health.

Help and support

RowingBuddy is free, and we offer help by email as well as we can. We read every message, but we can’t promise a reply within a set time.

Changes and law

We may change these terms; if a change matters, we will say so in the game before it applies. Swiss law applies. Disputes go to the courts at our registered office, unless the law gives you the right, as a consumer, to go to the courts where you live. If we translate these terms, the English text counts.

If a part of these terms turns out to be invalid, the rest still applies, and the invalid part is replaced by a valid rule that comes as close as possible to what it meant. If we don’t enforce a rule straight away, we haven’t given it up.

Contact

Michel Rossier
Bahnhofstrasse 5
3186 Düdingen
Switzerland
hello@mail.rowingbuddy.com