Pararowing

 ( Rowing ) 

In October 1945, veterans from the United States Army, Navy, and Marines blinded during WWII entered into the Navy Day Regatta on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. Some consider this event as the catalyst for international interest of adaptive rowing.

PR3 (previously LTA – Legs, Trunk, Arms)

Use of at least one leg, trunk and arms. Also for those with visual and intellectual impairments. Rowed with standard boats and sliding seats.

PR2 (previously TA – Trunk and Arms)

Only use of trunk muscles. Boat has fixed seat.

PR1 (previously AS – Arms and Shoulders)

Limited trunk control. Boat has fixed seat and rower is strapped at upper chest level to only allow shoulder and arm movements.

Racing was held over 1,000 m (rather than the standard 2,000 m), but from 2017 the distance was changed to the standard 2,000m. In mixed events half the crew must be male and other half female (coxswain may be of either gender and may be able bodied). Single shells for the PR1 category must have stabilising pontoons attached to the riggers.

Adaptive events were added to the World Rowing Championships in 2002 and took place at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China.

• FISA Para-Rowing page
• Adaptive Rowing on International Paralympic Committee website
• Rowing Canada's Para-Rowing Page
• British Rowing's (UK) Domestic Adaptive Rowing Page
• USRowing's Domestic Adaptive Rowing Page