Eight rowers, including the mixed adaptive coxed four crew that won the World title in Bled last year, have been named for ParalympicsGB for the London 2012 Games.
Great Britain also won bronze in the mixed adaptive coxed four in Beijing and ParalympicsGB has selected the crew which won the World title in Bled in 2011 for the Games - Pamela Relph, Naomi Riches, Dave Smith and James Roe with cox Lily van den Broecke.
Riches, from Harrow, is the only survivor from the Beijing crew and is part of the current four who won in Varese earlier this year and who won gold at the Munich World Cup in a tight finish with Germany. This event looks set to feature multiple potential opposition from Europe and North America, showing the continuing growth in the Paralympic disciplines in the sport.
“Competing at the London Paralympic Games is something that I have thought of every day since the 2012 host country was announced in 2006; as each year passed it became more real and now it is just days away”, said Riches. “I am so excited about this summer, the training leading into the Games and the Games themselves; being part of this crew is incredible beyond words let alone competing on home water in front of a home crowd.”
Aylesbury’s Relph joined the crew in 2010 and comes from a rowing family. Her sister Monica has rowed for GB internationally.
Relph said: “I’m so excited about representing my country at London 2012. Racing in front of a home crowd will be an amazing experience and having all my friends and family around will be such a boost”.
All three boats, the arms & shoulders single scull, trunk & arms mixed double scull and the legs, trunk and arms mixed adaptive coxed four, qualified for the Games through the 2011 World Championships in Bled where reigning Paralympic and World Champion Tom Aggar and the four won gold and the double were finalists.
Rowing is to take place for three days at the Games from August 31 with medals being decided on September 2 in all categories.
“I’d like to congratulate all the rowers selected today,” said Craig Hunter, Chef de Mission for ParalympicsGB. ”Rowing is the newest sport on the Paralympic programme, but British rowers made a real impact in Beijing. Like their Olympic counterparts, the Rowing team are in great shape and train incredibly hard so I can’t wait to see how they will do on home water. I wish them the best of luck in their final preparations over the coming weeks.”
Crew list:
Arms & shoulders single scull (ASM1x):
Tom Aggar
Trunk & arms mixed double scull (TAMix2x):
Nick Beighton
Sam Scowen
Legs, trunk and arms mixed adaptive coxed four (LTAMix4+):
Pamela Relph
Naomi Riches
David Smith
James Roe
Lily van den Broecke (cox)
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