At the Paris 2024 Paralympic Regatta, GB won gold in three of the five events, and took silver in another. The origins of this phenomenal success lie with the GB Rowing Team’s Paralympic talent ID and recruitment process. British Rowing Paralympic Pathway Performance Talent Coach Rob Cree explains how he goes about finding – and then nurturing – future Paralympians.
Recruiting Para pathway athletes – a two-pronged approach
Successful Paralympic athletes need all the same qualities as Olympic athletes – as well as meeting the strict classification criteria for one of the three Paralympic Sport Classes (PR1, PR2 and PR3). There are two main starting points for finding these ‘needles in haystacks’.
Current rowers who are unaware they are eligible for Para rowing
At least some of the athletes likely to be in that boat at LA 2028 are rowing right now at a club but don’t realise that they could be eligible for a PR3 classification. These athletes might have a visual impairment, Erb’s Palsy, fused joints, Talipes (‘club foot’), or other conditions that reduce strength or range of movement across their joints.
2024 Paralympic Champion Frankie Allen is a prime example. An injury she’d experienced during birth meant that one of her arms was weaker than the other due to nerve damage. Although her arm had a limited range of movement, this had not prevented her from rowing competitively at school and at university. It was pure chance that Frankie came to the attention of the Para Program as her uncle was a dentist who was treating one of the Paralympic coaches and let slip that his niece was a rower who had a disability.
If this could be you, fill in this form and Rob will be in touch.
Matchmaking individuals with an impairment with the sport of rowing
British Rowing’s tried and tested Paralympic Talent ID programme includes adverts on social media, participation in wider Para sport classification days and attendance at national disability sports events like the Inter Unit Spinal Games, Wheelpower Games and Limbpower Games. This is essentially the route that Paris 2024 PR1 Single Sculls gold medallist Benjamin Pritchard came into the sport on via a taster day at Stoke Mandeville hospital.
In addition to the conditions eligible for PR3 classification mentioned above, potential PR1 and PR2 athletes could have amputations, spinal cord injuries, or one of a host of other conditions that affect their strength or range of movement.
Again, fill in this form if you’re interested and Rob will be in touch. As he says, “We’re ALWAYS recruiting!”
Learning to row on the Para pathway
Potential Para athletes can start learning to row anywhere in the country. Rob explains, “Usually I help these athletes start their rowing journey in their local gym on an ergo. I often coach them virtually through video and Whatsapp video calls.
“Perhaps contrary to common perception, these athletes very rarely need any specific equipment – most rowers with a disability can walk and so they can use a sliding seat on a standard machine. The small number of rowers who are wheelchair users (only 8% of people with a disability) may need postural support seats. Commonly, I also use simple seat clamps to fix the ergo seat for fixed seat rowers and ‘Active Hands’ handles for anyone who struggles to grip a standard handle for whatever reason”.
Getting afloat
Rob continues, “Once the athlete has a reasonable mastery of rowing on the ergo (basic movement patterns, sequencing and consistency) I try to introduce them to a club so they can start to develop watermanship. Most disabled people can learn to row with able bodied people, perhaps with very simple adaptations.”
For those that need them, a fixed seat or postural support seat can be installed in a wide-beamed single that is otherwise used for Learn to Row sessions, usually with the addition of floats.
Para rowing is about what people CAN do, not what they can’t. “I try to keep this mindset at the forefront of all my coaching,” Rob says. “While I may be the ‘expert’ in rowing, the athlete is the expert in their disability. So I ask them for their ideas about how they want to achieve the things they need to do.
“Great coaching is always about understanding the individual needs of the athlete; the principles of coaching someone with an impairment are no different – we look for length in the water, well sequenced movements, distance per stroke, and moving the boat as opposed to the handles.”
Want to find out more about the Para pathway?
Just email Rob at [email protected]!
Photos: Benedict Tufnell
