Paraplegic rower Robin Gibbons has broken his own indoor rowing record by more than ten seconds at the opening of Brunel University's new £7 million indoor athletics centre in west London.Robin rowed 2,000m on a specially adapted Concept 2 Indoor Rower in 11 minutes 50 seconds, knocking a whopping 12 seconds off his previous world record time - set at the British Indoor Rowing Championship last year where he rowed against able-bodied athletes. This time Robin was rowing on his own with only the clock to beat. I'm delighted to have broken the record but to be honest I think I could have done better, he explained.I started off too quickly and during the second half of the row I ran out of steam a bit. However, I'm still pleased to have done it and, from not being able to even row 2,000m a year ago, it's a real improvement.Robin injured his spine in a car crash in 2001 and since then has been working with a team at Brunel University researching the use of functional electrical stimulation (FES) within exercise. The team has adapted Concept 2 Indoor Rowers with FES technology enabling paraplegics like Robin to train on a fitness machine previously off limits to them.In the last year Robin has increased his training from one session a week to up to twice a day and he can now row continually for 5,000m. Last November he took part in the British Indoor Rowing Championship and he's hoping to race in the competition again this year.He continued: I'm hoping to have another go at the record in May. I'm sure I can do a faster time and by keeping up with my training I should be able to beat my record again!The FES adapted Concept 2 Indoor Rower uses a multi-channel stimulator with electrodes place on the skin over the quadriceps and hamstrings. The rower can control each stroke by pressing and releasing a switch on the pull bar. This enables the rower to synchronise the voluntarily controlled movement of the upper body with the FES-induced movement of the lower body, resulting in a high intensity whole body workout.More on Robin and FES rowing can be found at http://www.therowingcompany.com/birc/news.php?story=paraplegic_rowers.