Adaptive Rowing in the UK

It would not be unfair to suggest that rowing has an issue with inclusion. This is not to say that there are no efforts to change this,  but they are not yet widespread. However there are the beginnings of some exciting junior para-rowing programmes popping up across the country, some of these include the work done by Stratford-upon-Avon rowing club, and Marlow rowing club. Coaches Bruce Lynn and David Haggas from Marlow and Mark Dewdney from Stratford are keen to raise awareness of these programmes and the good work they can do. Especially, as David Haggas puts it, ‘what a huge difference that being accepted and involved in Junior Adaptive Rowing can make to the development of emotional resilience, in young minds.’ 

Bruce Lynn put it into his own words;

So many disabled junior athletes and junior rowing coaches are still unaware of the range of impairments that can successfully row.  Many people think of the Invictus athletes in wheelchairs, but don’t realise that people with conditions like LD/LI/Autism, arm impairments, cerebral palsy can all row very effectively.  They also don’t realise how many clubs specifically support and offer junior adaptive/pararowing.  Finally, people don’t understand how a disabled junior can even be included in conventional rowing programmes (with a bit of guidance and support by experienced and knowledgeable coaches in adaptive rowing).  Awareness and expansion is a major area of focus by British Rowing and seen as essential for the future strength of the sport overall.

He also asserts that adaptive rowing programmes don’t just benefit the rowers directly, they also have an impact on the club as a whole;

 All sports build character as much as fitness and few more so than rowing.  Before coaching the Marlow Para squad, I coached J14s at Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School in Marlow so I am all too familiar with the range “teenage” attitudes which often include bouts of laziness and self-pity.  I have witnessed distinct shifts in the attitudes of Marlow juniors when they get off the water feeling hard done by from a particularly challenging workout or disappointing results.  Those moans take a discernible shift when they cross paths on the pontoon with the para squad cheerfully getting out of their wheelchairs, taking off their prosthetic legs, strapping their grip on the stub of their arm, or limping to the water with their paralysis.  They seem to realise that rowing may be hard, but it could be even harder.

Mark Dewdney, coach of the adaptive rowing initiative in Stratford-upon-Avon has similar feelings about the undeniable benefit of these programs. Mark told us about some of the athletes he has in his squad and the effective it has had on them;

My 2 juniors are now over 18 but a 12 yo will start in the next few weeks. Stratford’s long term is to have a junior adaptive wing. To this end I am trying to educate new coaches – some of which are adaptives. 

The point of junior adaptive rowing is several fold.  

1. For the junior to have the attitude that sport is something he/she can do. To break out of learnt dependency. This is good for their general attitude to life and its challenges. I can do what my peers can do. By definition the health benefits especially can be enormous

2. Exposure to disability, 9 times out of 10, will improve the way people treat the disabled. To move away from the overly protective and /or downright disrespectful approach of many. 

One of my rowers said of my team “You don’t seem to see my disability”. What was meant by that was not that we ignore it but that it is just seen as an issue to be resolved. Finding the right answer is a joint venture between the team and the adaptive rower. This approach adds to the rower’s feeling of self-respect as they have been part of finding the solution 

There are increasing initiatives to raise awareness and encourage juniors to join these programmes, such as the LoveRowing Foundation. They work with state schools and disabled athletes to support their efforts to row. For example, the National Indoor Rowing Championships have a large contingent of competitors from SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) schools. 

Bruce Lynn provided some testimonies from his athletes, Helen Cooper from Marlow RC, aged 16 has this to say about the her experience in his squad; 

“I was welcomed into such a wonderful group of people where it seems like everyone understands one another, even though we all have different disabilities or support someone who has a disability. When I come down to the club sessions I feel included and not a minority, knowing that I won’t have to face adversity from people who don’t understand how my deafness, ADHD and sensory processing difficulties affect me.” 

Change is beginning to be felt across all walks of rowing life, not just at the grassroots levels of club rowing. Georgia Walker (PR3-visually impared) won the para rowing event at Henley Womens in 2019, she was a junior at the time and she had to compete against adults to win the trophy. This shows the talent and potential across the country in the junior para rowing community. For the first time in 2022, the junior inter-regional regatta included adaptive rowing categories in their programme and despite the weather conditions, many adaptive single scullers successfully competed. 

With the help of initiatives like those in Marlow and Stratford, and more inclusive regatta programmes at junior level, we will start to see rowing become more diverse. The athletes who benefit from these efforts are not just the ones within the pararowing community, but it is clear that every rower will gain something from these programmes and more support is needed in order to make these as successful as they should be. 

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Rosie Oates

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