Fresh fast faces for para-rowing women's single

The past two years in the AS women’s single sculls has been typified by dominant performances by newcomers such as Birgit Skarstein of Norway. Skarstein finished second at last year’s World Rowing Championships having taken up rowing just five month before the championships.

“I was a swimmer when I younger, then I had a spinal cord injury five years ago. I started skiing again after my injury and strength training, mostly just to cope with my new life. Then I needed something to do in the summer and I landed on rowing. I ended up loving it,” Skarstein says.

Her sporting background helped Skarstein to quickly be competitive in rowing. Winning a silver medal at the 2013 World Rowing Championships, Skarstein says she felt a little out of place. “I felt last year that I didn’t have the right to be at the top (of the field). Like it wasn’t my turn, that I wasn’t supposed to be there. I wanted to do my best, but still I felt like I didn’t belong there.”

Despite the hard work that she put in last year, Skarstein feels better prepared for this year’s championships. “This year I feel like I have a totally different standing, we worked so hard, so now it feels great to be where I am and to go on the water and feel that everything I’ve ever done is paying off.”

Skarstein was unable to compete earlier this season due to a rib injury, but she looks to be on form after winning her heat earlier in the week and claiming a spot in the final with the fastest qualifying time. 

Another newcomer to the AS single sculling scene is Rachel Morris of Great Britain. She took the top spot in Heat One with the second-fastest qualifying time. Morris began rowing just six months ago. A Paralympic Champion in cycling, Morris found the sport of rowing after a crash that injured her shoulder and forced her out of cycling. “I came to rowing because I was advised to get stronger, so I used the ergo in the gym. One of the (rowing) talent ID coaches saw me and asked if I thought about rowing,” Morris says.

Morris, like Skarstein, feels that her background in competitive sports gave her an advantage when picking up the sport of rowing. But, she says, there are still many differences that she didn’t fully appreciate before making the change. “The actual way of training is very different. I’ve switched from being an endurance athlete to sort of somewhere in the middle. In cycling you are on and off (the intensity) a lot more because the road is undulating or something. Whereas in rowing, you’re all out at that red line for that period of time, 1000 metres.”

Morris stamped her mark on the competition at the World Rowing Cup II in Aiguebelette when she took home a silver medal at her first international competition.  Despite her success, Morris is still finding her own in rowing. “At the moment it feels really nerve-wracking because I feel so out of my depth. It’s like going into a new job, except in a new job you don’t have to do it in front of a whole crowd of people. It’s just about finding my ground a bit and learning how it works.”