Adaptive rowers pre-Paralympic racing

Tom Aggar of Great Britain going fast in the AM1x

Starting at the half-way point, these rowers raced over the Paralympic distance of 1000m.

Arms Women’s Single Sculls (AW1x) – race for lanes

With only three entries this event turned into a race for lanes and Helene Raynsford of Great Britain stamped her dominance over Ukraine and Bulgaria. Raynsford was a World Champion in 2006 and last year finished fifth which still qualified her for the Beijing Paralympics. She will be looking for medals when she races at the September Paralympic Games. The three countries will race again in the final on Wednesday 18 June.

Arms Men’s Single Sculls (AM1x) – heats

Seven countries spread over two heats meant a first place position was necessary for direct advancement to the final. Great Britain’s Tom Aggar made it two in a row for his country by easily winning heat one. Aggar is the reigning World Champion in this event. His win in Munich last year came after just one year in the boat. Aggar also uses the indoor rowing machine in his training. By the finish line he had a half-minute lead over Ukraine in second. Aggar goes directly to the final.

Leading the way in heat two, Eli Nawi of Israel is potentially Aggar’s biggest challenger at this regatta. Nawi finished third last year in Munich in his first ever international race. Nawi comes to rowing from a swimming background and is a hot medal prospect for Israel at the Paralympic Games. Nawi, rating 45 towards the end, will go directly to the final where he will take up a centre lane alongside Aggar.

Trunk and Arms Double Sculls (TA2x) – race for lanes

Poland’s Yolanta Pawlak and Piotr Majka have a silver medal from 2006 and won bronze last year. This puts them in good stead for the 2008 Paralympic Games. But today on Poznan’s Malta rowing course Pawlak and Majka found themselves being pushed hard by James Roberts and Karen Cromie of Great Britain. Roberts and Cromie qualified for Beijing when they finished eighth at the qualification regatta last year. They look to have stepped up a notch in this Paralympic year. Poland crossed the line first followed very closely by Great Britain.

Legs Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed Four (LTAmx4+) – heats

The Netherlands are coming along nicely and their timing is improving. This put them into the lead of heat one followed closely by Denmark and Russia. It took three quarters of the race for the Dutch to open up a bit of water and they crossed the line at a solid 32 stroke rate pace. The Netherlands qualify directly for the final.

Great Britain recorded the fastest qualifying time when they won heat two in a time of 3:29. Coxed by Alan Sherman, the four athletes had to deal with Germany at the start before they managed to shake them off and cross the line with an open water lead. This was stroke James Morgan’s first ever international race. He joins the crew that finished second at last year’s World Rowing Championships.