In the early 1980’s, Vasa's founder, Rob Sleamaker, was working as a sports physiologist with Olympic level cross country skiers and winter biathletes. As cross country skiing evolved to include the ski-skating or "Freestyle" technique, it became evident to Rob that the propulsive forces were generated differently than traditional ski striding or "classic skiing". In "Freestyle", the skier used the upper body much more than in classic style. Rob designed the Vasa Trainer to develop the upper body specifically for the double poling motion.

At the same time, Rob was coaching several professional triathletes and wanted another way to train them to swim faster. (see, "SERIOUS Training For Endurance Athletes", Human Kinetics Publishers, 1989) So he designed the Vasa Trainer so it could also be used to improve swimming strength, endurance and technique.

In 1989, the Vasa Trainer was introduced at the American Swim Coaches Association World Clinic. Immediately, several top coaches each purchased Vasa Trainers for their teams. Only later did we learn the significance of those purchases, since among those first swim coach customers were Richard Quick of Stanford, Richard Shoulberg of Germantown Academy, Mark Schubert of USC and Nort Thornton of Cal-Berkeley. Please read the unsolicited testimonials from these coaches.

Since its introduction in 1989, the Vasa Trainer has become the training tool of choice for thousands of swim coaches and swimmers world-wide. An example of Vasa's popularity among swim coaches is the fact that over 75% of the swimmers representing the U.S. at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2000 Sydney Olympics trained on Vasa Trainers leading up to the games. Over the years, the U.S. swimming coaches have requested that Vasa Trainers be available for their swimmers to use during several World Championships and three Olympic games. Both the Atlanta and Sydney Olympic Games purchased Vasa Trainers for the athlete training facilities.

Vasa’s engineers and designers have continued to perfect the design of the Vasa Trainer in order to meet the requests and demands of coaches, swimmers, triathletes, surfers, health clubs, physical therapists and fitness enthusiasts the world over. Our latest improvements greatly expand the versatility of the Vasa Trainer. Now users can do over 200 different functional exercises for sports-specific training, strength, endurance, power, speed, physical therapy and rehabilitation. The pulley-cable system allows the user to do continuous Freestyle swimming, cardio-pull and canoe / kayak paddling for maximum aerobic benefits.

Recent improvements include: the Foot Platform, Power Cords, PT bench, deluxe plastic paddles, pull-up bar and the space saving fold-up system. We strive to make all new products, accessories and design changes so that they will "retro-fit" to all Vasa Trainers, new and old.

In November 2004, Vasa introduces a new generation in swim-specific training called the Vasa Ergometer. This high tech swim bench provides swim coaches, swimmers, triathletes, surfers and fitness buffs the tools necessary to develop unmatched aerobic endurance. The Vasa Ergometer is like a "swimming treadmill" featuring a fan flywheel with variable wind resistance that feels just like swimming in water. A “damper door” adjusts airflow to feel like a fast or slow current, allowing athletes to vary their workouts – from light range of motion rehab work, to swim-set simulations, to race intensity simulations, to maximum power intervals. An electronic monitor provides instant feedback on performance, which is ideal for race simulations, intervals and repeatable performance testing and training. The monitor’s patented force measuring system ensures accurate and reliable measurements over time and on multiple Vasa Ergometers.

The Vasa Ergometer is being used by the top swimmers, triathletes and coaches in the U.S.A. In addition to swim-specific and surf-paddle training, the Vasa Ergometer can be used as an upper body ergometer for physical therapy and rehabilitation. There are over 30 functional exercises for shoulder stabilization and total body fitness. The Vasa Ergometer can also be used for kayak, canoe and cross country ski training.

Where did the name Vasa come from?

Have you always wondered where we came up with the name Vasa and how the company started? Some of our more curious customers have called and asked, and it’s an interesting story…

In 1986, Rob Sleamaker, Vasa’s president, was working with the US Biathlon and Nordic Ski teams as a sports physiologist. During this time, cross-country skiing was evolving to include the freestyle (or skating) technique. Because this technique used the upper body much more than the traditional classical style, Rob recognized the need for a machine that could develop the upper body for this new technique. Rob took this idea, and in 1988, invented a machine for cross-country skiing.

As an avid cross country skier, Rob wanted to name the machine accordingly. For marathon cross country skiers, the ultimate race to win is the famous Swedish race, the Vasaloppet. This 82 year old race, which covers 85 kilometers across the cold terrain of Sweden, requires strength, stamina and courage to win. The race is named after the 16th century Swede, Gustavus Vasa, who showed the same strength, stamina and courage by leading the Swedish defeat of the Danes in the 1520’s. He was crowned King of Sweden in 1523.

So how did the Vasa Nordic Trainer become the Vasa Swim Trainer? In early 1989, Rob recognized that by adding swim paddles and a swim bench, the Nordic Trainer could be used for simulating the swimming motion. In the fall of 1989, he redesigned he Nordic Trainer with this concept and named it the Vasa Swim Trainer.

Since it’s debut in 1989, the Vasa Swim Trainer has undergone some design changes, but the basic simple and elegant design of the original Vasa Trainer is what you still see today. We hope all of our products will live up to King Vasa’s example of strength, determination and excellence.

Contact Us

Address and Phone Numbers
Vasa, Inc., 1 Allen Martin Drive, #5, Essex Junction, VT 05452 USA
TOLL FREE at 1.800.488.VASA (8272)
Direct or International: (802) 872-7101
FAX: (802) 872-7104 or (501) 421-6254
EMAIL: please click here to email us

Office Hours
Except for most major US holidays, Vasa, Inc. is open Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm Eastern Time, 24 hour voice mail answering system.

International
Please check our dealer list for an authorized dealer in your country. If there is no dealer in your country, please contact Vasa directly. All inquiries received from countries on the authorized dealer list will be forwarded to the authorized dealer in the appropriate country.