Image Credit: World Rowing
In the world of sport, there is always a narrative brewing. Who is rising, who is falling. But between training peaks and various factors behind the scenes, there is always some noise obscuring the ultimate truth behind the speed. But once every four years we gather to put all that to the side. The peak of the sport is at the Paralympic games, across five events, 114 athletes from 29 countries will compete to assure themselves a spot in the history books and earn themselves the ability to say with all certainty: I am the greatest.
Great Britain
Twice a Paralympic champion already, Lauren Rowles has become the dominant face of this event in the last few years. Winning in Rio and Tokyo with Laurence Whiteley, she returned to the event in 2023 in a new-look combination with Gregg Stevenson. While there was some worry that this combination would not be able to match its predecessor, this has quickly been put to rest by the quality of performance over the last two seasons. Unbeaten in the ten races they have taken part in together while breaking the World’s Best Times three times along the way, they have been superb in all of their racing. With Rowles facing the opportunity to win her third successive gold at the age of just 26, there will be only one colour of medal in Paris that will satisfy this crew.
China
The only crew that has been able to trouble the British this Paralympic cycle has been the Chinese duo of Shuang Liu and Jijian Jiang. Bronze medallists in Tokyo – more than ten seconds back on the British – they have raced in Europe just once since those games, at the Belgrade world championships last year. At that event, they really took the fight to the British, starting slow before fighting back into contention and winding up half a length short. With no international racing since that event, it is hard to evaluate the form they are in 12 months later, but they will almost certainly provide the strongest test for the British crew. Vaires-sur-Marne has not been too kind to the Chinese crews so far this summer, and this crew is their best shot of changing that record.
Ukraine
Having appeared in the A-Final in this event at every world championships and Paralympic Games since Rio 2016, Iaroslav Koiuda is an ever-present face. The peak of the career so far came in 2022 where he and his partner became world champions. However, this season he has been joined by the younger Anna Aisanova in the crew. Across the year, they have steadily improved, moving from a bronze medal finish at the European championships to a gold in Lucerne. While there was not a complete field in Lucerne, it remains a strong showing, and they will take that confidence into the Games as they will likely be contesting a very tough battle for the medals.
Netherlands
The story of the Dutch partnership is a rather interesting one, featuring Marinus De Koning, who has been in the boat almost constantly since 2013 but with a variety of partners over that time. For the Rio cycle, he was partnered with Gertrudes Bregitta Van Der Loos where they finished in fourth, less than two seconds off the podium. For Tokyo his partner was Annika Van Der Meer with whom he won two world championships and the Paralympic Silver. The third partner in this succession was to be Chantal Haenen for the Paris cycle but with Haenen focussing on cycling at these games, he was reunited with the now 56-year-old Van Der Loos. This season, the results have not been ideal for the reformed lineup, with three underwhelming performances on the world stage. If they can get things to click, they could be in the fight for the medals, but its more likely their battle will be to reach the A-Final.
France
With six months left until their home games, it looked as if the French were in danger of missing out on qualifying for this event. Perle Bouge and Stephane Tardieu finished eighth at the world championships at the end of a disappointing season, with Tardieu subsequently stepping away from the sport. In his absence, up stepped Benjamin Daviet, five-time Paralympic champion on the snow who had started rowing for some interesting cross-training. Tempted by a home games, he joined the double and worked with Bouge, with his attentions turning to rowing full-time only five months before the season began. In that time their growth as a pairing has been considerable, having gone from missing a meal at the European championships to winning a very competitive final at the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta. If they have been able to continue this growth through the summer, they may be able to put themselves in contention for a medal with the roar of a home crowd.
Israel
The other crew to make it through the FPQR is the Israeli double of Shahar Milfelder and Saleh Shahin. Relatively new on the international rowing scene, last year’s world championship was the first race on that stage in four years for Shahin and the first ever for Milfelder yet they were still the fastest crew not to qualify directly for this year’s games, missing out on the A-final by just 0.32 seconds in the repechage. This season, the results have been mixed for the duo as they took on a fairly full schedule but since finishing sixth in the European championships, they have had more success, finishing second at FPQR and then winning silver at the Lucerne World Rowing Cup that immediately followed. These results have proven they could keep themselves well in contention for a medal in Paris, but if they were simply a product of being on a different training peak from their rivals then the Games may be a lot harder for them.
Poland
After the Belgrade world championships, there was great optimism in the Polish camp around this boat. Jolanta Majka and Michal Grzegorz Gadowski, who had been in the crew together since 2011, had just won their second consecutive medal at a world championship, and booked their spot in their fourth Paralympics as a crew – the fifth for Majka. But during this season, the speed just hasn’t been there. At the European championships, they missed the A-Final, finishing seventh overall in the eight-boat field and at each of the two World Rowing Cup Regattas they have contested, they were left in last place. With nine weeks between the Poznan World Rowing Cup and the Paralympic Regatta, there is plenty of room for the double to rediscover their form from 12 months ago but with such ground to make up, finally winning a Paralympic medal is likely beyond them.
Ireland
After winning the gold in the PR2 women’s single at the 2022 world championships, Katie O’Brien was the star of Irish para-rowing. She and her partner Steven McGowan qualified the double with their fifth-placed finish in Belgrade, allowing her to achieve her Paralympic dream and compete for Ireland. This season, O’Brien has not competed on the world stage, but there has been tight competition to secure the seat alongside her. At both the World Rowing Cup regattas, both McGowan and Tiarnan O’Donnell have raced in the men’s single and with O’Donnell securing silver medals in both Lucerne and Poznan, he earned the seat in Paris. This double, yet to race internationally, provides a certain unknown quality, especially with McGowan’s absence this year, and the crew’s outcomes could range from medal contenders to mid-B finalists.
Turkey
The final crew in the entry is the Turkish combination of 45-year-old Nursen Sen and 18-year-old Yigit Dogukan Bozkurt. This combination was selected by the Bipartite Commission; a committee of representatives of World Rowing and the International Paralympic Committee who have the discretion to offer entries to crews who had not otherwise qualified for a variety of reasons. This crew, who finished in last place at the FPQR, will be the only Turkish crew to row in Paris at either the Olympics or Paralympics following their selection, allowing greater representation across the sport. With this entry being admitted, there is little expectation on this crew, so simply being in the mix for second last would be an achievement.
Prediction
While the field may be closer than ever before, I cannot look past the Great Britain crew for gold in this one, closely followed by the Chinese. For bronze, it will be a close battle between a number of crews but with the championship pedigree of Benjamin Daviet and the support of the home crowd, the French will have enough to take it.
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