• Events:

  ASM Single Scull

• Home Town:

  London

• Lives:

  Maidenhead

• Trains:

  Caversham

• Date Of Birth:

  24th May 1984

• Games Attended:

  London 12, Beijing 08

He made his first appearance in the sport when he won his category at the 2006 Indoor Rowing Championships using the FES (functional electrical stimulation) rowing machine with integrated legs and arms.  Following this he became involved in Adaptive Rowing through the mentoring of Simon Goodey at the London Regatta Centre. Tom represents Royal Docks Rowing Club and had an outstanding first season in international Rowing winning the gold medal at the 2007 World Championships in Munich in a World Best Time.

Tom began the 2008 Paralympic season in fine style winning the Varese International Regatta in April where he also lowered his own World Best Time.  At the Paralympic Games in Beijing Tom faced tough opposition in his final from the Ukrainian sculler Oleksandr Petrenko but maintained his lead and produced an exceptional last 300m to win gold ahead of the Ukraine and Israel.  Becoming Paralympic Champion in only his second year of competitive rowing was an outstanding achievement.

He began the 2009 racing season in good form, winning gold at both the Varese International Regatta and Munich World Cup Regatta.  He ended the season by dominating the opposition at the World Rowing Championships in Poznan, winning the final by more than 15 seconds and, in the process, lowering his own World Best Time to 4:51.48.

Tom was named 2010 World Adaptive Crew of the Year by the sport's world governing body.  FISA said that Aggar, coached by Tom Dyson, had "set the standard in Adaptive Rowing" and paid tribute to his continuing unbeaten run at international level.  And in January 2010, he became the International Rowing Federation's first Adaptive Rower of the Year in recognition of his achievements on the water.

Tom won his third World gold at the 2010 World Rowing Championships in New Zealand, totally dominating the final of the Paralympic-class Single Scull, finishing 13 seconds ahead of second placed Andril Kryvchun from the Ukraine in a time of 5:19.36.   This time was however quite sedate compared with his heat where he beat his own record to achieve a World Best Time of 4:49.80.

Earlier in the 2010 season he took gold in the ASM1x at the first World Cup in Bled, beating second placed rower Andy Houghton, also from GB, by eight seconds.  This followed the two gold medals Tom won at the Varese International Adaptive Regatta in May.

At the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Tom maintained his title as World Champion taking the gold medal in a time of 5:58.01.

At the first World Cup of 2011 in Munich Tom won gold in a time of 4:54.59, over 13 seconds ahead of second placed Alexey Chuvashev of Russia with Benjamin Houlison from Australia taking bronze.

At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Tom was unable to defend his title, finishing 4th in the final of the ASM1x after Huang Cheng of China, who set a world best of 4:45.02 for the 1km course in the heats, went on to win gold.

Tom is a graduate of the University of Warwick and he played 1st XV Rugby there, but following an accident unconnected with sport he was injured and he took up Rowing in 2006 to keep fit.  He started training using the FES ergometer at the Aspire National Training Centre, Stanmore.

Major Results

• 2012 London Paralympic Games
• ASM1x: 4th
• 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games
• ASM1x: gold
• 2011 World Rowing Championships, Bled, Slovenia
• ASM1x: gold
• 2010 World Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, New Zealand
• ASM1x: gold
• 2009 World Rowing Championships, Poznan, Poland
• ASM1x: gold

Source: www.GBRowingTeam.org.uk