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.
Australia
Winners of World Rowing’s 2023 Para Crew of the Year, the Australian duo of Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager have become the ones to beat in the first Paralympic cycle in this event. In 2023, they twice set a new best time on their World Rowing Cup debut in Zagreb before winning the world championships by several lengths. This season, they claimed gold in Poznan in their only major race in Europe so far, but their margin over the field was a little less comfortable. The dominant duo in the event, they will be sure in their ability to hold off the rest of the chasing pack for the gold medal.
United States
The silver medallists at the Belgrade world championships twelve months ago, Todd Vogt returns with a new partner in 22-year-old Saige Harper. The recent Sacred Heart graduate won a silver in the PR3 mixed coxed four at the same event and has swapped seats with Gemma Wollenschlaeger as the selectors look to upgrade one of their medals to gold. So far this season, they were well off the pace as they finished fourth at the Poznan World Rowing Cup. With differing training peaks and the additional difficulties of training with disabilities, this result is less reliable as a predictor than it may seem, but they will need to seriously step on if they want to take a medal back to their Boston training base.
Great Britain
In the sphere of Paralympic rowing, there is no nation that is quite as dominant as Great Britian. The coxed four is unbeaten since 2009 and with the introduction of this event to the Paralympic Games, it gives greater opportunity for further medal hoarding. Since enjoying their debut at the start of 2023, Samuel Murray and Annabel Caddick have been the British offering in this event and have made rapid improvements. Fourth in Varese and at the world championships in 2023, this year they are European champions and silver medalists in Poznan against all of the major contenders. They still have some distance to go to catch the Australian double, who have led the field for the past two years, but in the Caversham system, they will back themselves to make the requisite improvements.
Germany
Another double that has seen their stock rise this year is the German combination of Jan Helmich and Hermine Krumbein. Last year, Krumbein made her international debut in this event at the world championships, finishing fifth alongside Valentin Luz. But this year, after being joined by Jan Helmich from the bronze medal-winning coxed four, they have taken a step up the rankings. A close silver medal at the European championships was followed by a gold medal in a weaker field at Lucerne. In Poznan – the closest thing to a dress rehearsal that we have seen this season – they finished third in a tighter grouping, well ahead of the rest of the field. Taking Hellmich out of the four is a clear investment of talent in this crew by the German selectors, and this crew is poised to reward them with at least a medal in returns.
France
The final medallists in Belgrade, the French duo of Guylaine Marchand and Laurent Cadot will race internationally together for the first time in more than a year at the Paralympic Games in front of a home crowd. Cadot, twice an Olympian in rowing before developing degenerative neurological disorder following a back surgery, has spent most of the cycle rowing with Elur Alberdi, winning a gold and a bronze at the two world championships. However, following a disappointing result at the European championships, the French coaches opted to change things up. At the Poznan World Rowing Cup, Cadot was entered with the 55-year-old Marchand but they withdrew prior to the event. With no racing together since the 2023 European championships, their speed remains a mystery but if they are presumably faster than the ‘FRA2’ entry that raced at Poznan, they may be competing for a medal in front of a home crowd.
Ukraine
Despite being youngest combination in the field, the Ukranian duo of Dariia Kotyk and Stanislav Samoliukboth already have experience of rowing at a Paralympic Games. They finished in nineth place in the coxed four in Tokyo but since splitting down into the double they have had much greater success. They have finished in the top three in every race they have contested with one unfortunate exception. A seventh overall finish at last year’s World Championship after missing the A Final by less than a length meant they needed to race at the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta. In Lucerne, they dominated that field by nearly a minute and followed it up with a second place in a weak field at the World Rowing Cup the following weekend, showed they have decent form coming into the pinnacle of the season. They will aim for a medal here and have the quality to achieve it on their day, but they may be impacted by having to peak twice in their training plan to make sure they were on the start line in Paris.
Brazil
The fastest crew not to qualify at last year’s world championship, the Brazilian crew have had a bumpy ride to qualify for this summer’s games. Diana Cristina Barcelos De Oliveira and Jairo Natanael Frohlich Klugrowed together in the coxed four at the Tokyo games and as that crew split into doubles in preparation for these games, the two were initially separate. De Oliveira and her partner won silver at the 2022 world championships and the 2023 Varese World Rowing Cup, but she reunited with Klug for the world championships that year, finishing sixth and missing out on a ticket to Paris. Since Brazil had qualified in the PR1 Women’s single, they could not take part in the continental qualification regatta, instead they were sent to the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta in an attempt to secure their spot. They missed out in Lucerne after finishing in second, almost a minute down on Ukraine, only booking their spot through an invitation from the Bipartite Commission. In Paris, there will be no committee to advance them through the rounds, so if they want to stay competitive with the rest of the world, they will have to seriously improve from their showing in May.
Egypt
While some doubles are well known faces on the Para-rowing circuit, the Egyption duo of Marwa Abdelaaland Ali Elzieny had their first world-level race in Europe just a few months ago. They booked their spot in Paris through the African continental qualification regatta in October last year, where they skipped the world championships but finished several lengths ahead of the Tunisian crew on home water. This season, they made their global debut at the historic Lucerne World Rowing Cup, finishing third in a four-boat field, 55 seconds behind second place. This crew is a step down from the entries from more developed countries but should be in a close fight in the B-Final for the minor positions.
Mexico
The Mexican double of Miguel Angel Nieto Carpio and Angeles Britani Gutierrez Vieyra have among the more interesting stories to come through the Paralympic qualification system. At the 2023 world championships, they tried and failed to qualify in the PR2 mixed double in a classification where athletes row with fixed seats. But six months later at the Americas continental qualifier, they were selected ahead of the previous PR3 double to compete for Mexico in this classification – where the full range of motion is allowed – as there is no PR2 event at the regatta. They won that qualifier and booked their spot in Paris. Having made the trip to Europe, they finished well off the back at both the Lucerne and Poznan World Rowing Cups and will have a serious challenge in competing in this level of impairment at the highest level of the sport.
India
Representing India, the double of Anita Anita and Narayana Konganapalle will be racing for the third time on European water. At the world championships last year, they made their debuts in Europe, finishing ninth in Belgrade and returned to the continent in June to compete in Poznan, finishing sixth there. While their performances in Europe have been substandard, they are among the best on the Asian continent, winning silver at the Para Asian Games in 2022 and dominating the continental qualifier held this March. If they can finally make it work in Europe, they may be among the better performing crews in this event away from the traditional rowing powers.
Thailand
The final crew in the event is the Thai combination of Chintana Chueasaart and Poramin Phongamthippayakul. This duo is almost certainly the weakest crew on the entry. In their only previous race in Europe, they finished well off the back in last place in both rounds of the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta, and in the continental qualifier in Korea, they finished 49 seconds behind the Indian double. Granted their spot by the Bipartite Commission, seemingly just by virtue of competing at FPQR, finishing within 30 seconds of second-to-last could be considered a success for this crew who will be in Paris largely for the experience.
Prediction
While the might of Paralympics GB is great, I think that the dominance of the Australian double over the last two seasons will be too great to overcome for gold. The crew from Great Britain may have to settle for silver, with the German crew in bronze likely to be close behind.
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