Emerging adaptive crews aim for Paralympic Games

Since adaptive rowing was introduced at the 2002 World Rowing Championships in Seville, Spain, national rowing federations have continued to expand their participation and invest in adaptive rowing programmes that attract the best athletes aiming for Paralympic glory.

The Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta has attracted a growing competitive field, including several newcomers such as Dana Fink (USA) and Sandra Khumalo (RSA). Both women are competing in their first international regatta in the AS women’s single scull (ASW1x).  With Canada’s Joan Reid looking to be a sure bet for one of the two qualification spots after dominating Thursday’s heats, and Khumalo and Fink placing first and second respectively in Friday’s repechage, the competition will be on between Fink and Khumalo for the remaining slot.

Fink, who started rowing just over a year ago in Washington, D.C., qualified to represent USA at the trials regatta in March, while Khumalo, began rowing in 2010 but took a year off to have her second child. Fink, a former basketball player, says her biggest hurdle was transitioning from a team sport but she is drawn to the sport. “It’s so demanding and so peaceful at the same time,” says the 24-year-old. Her coach Katherine McMackin adds, “It’s been amazing to see her progress in such a short time.”

Khumalo, too, is excited by her quick rise in the sport. The 31-year-old mother of two from Durban, South Africa has always worked out in the gym. But it wasn’t until a motor vehicle accident changed her life that she was approached by a rowing coach to give the sport a try. She hopes her daily training and work with the South African adaptive coach will pay off in Belgrade. She says, “I want to see where my ability is going to take me. It’s been my wish since I started rowing to be in the Paralympics – I’m going to give it my best.”

France’s Bernard Fasanelli and Gysbert Van Der Niet of South Africa are new faces in the AS men’s single sculls (ASM1x). Fasanelli’s second place showing in Thursday’s heat kept the pressure on the eventual winner Maksim Miatlou (BLR), who was 11th at last year’s World Championships. Van Der Niet also had the opportunity to test himself for the first time in the heat against veteran international competitors like Ukraine’s Andrii Kryvchun, a two-time World silver medallist from 2009 and 2010, Brazil’s Luciano Luna de Oliveira (9th at the 2011 World Championships), and Germany’s Johannes Schmidt, (12th at the 2011 World Championships). While Fasanelli and Van Der Niet will race in Saturdays’ B-final and are thus out of the running for the final spots to this year’s Paralympic Games, they are part of the increasing depth in adaptive rowing with sights on future Paralympic Games.

In the TA mixed double sculls (TAMix2x), Oksane Masters and Robert Jones (USA) are two new names to watch.  After overtaking the 2007 World Champion and Paralympic bronze medallist Josiane Lima and her new partner Isaac Ribeiro in their international race debut on Thursday, the new combo from the United States could be considered realistic contenders for a Paralympic podium position.
Jones found adaptive rowing just over a year ago after a becoming a double amputee during his time in the military. “I wanted to do something competitive,” says Jones, 26, who was partnered for the first time in July 2011 with Masters, 22, an experienced rower who had been trying to make the team for the last six years.

The new duo tried their first race together in October 2011 at the Head of the Charles in Boston, USA in a new adaptive category racing over 5km. After a second placing in Boston, and a winter of training in Orlando, Florida, Masters and Jones won the US trials with a 12 second margin and began their Paralympic journey. “This has been my dream for years,” says Masters. “It would be incredible to fulfil it. We’re going for the win and rowing our own race.”