Rowing

More About

British Rowing

There are four events on the Paralympic rowing programme: the men’s arms and shoulders only single scull (ASM1x), the women’s arms and shoulders only single scull (ASW1x), the trunk and arms mixed double scull (TAMix2x) and the legs, trunk and arms mixed coxed four (LTAMix4+).

Strictly speaking, the coxed four is the only ‘rowing’ event. The others are sculling events, where each athlete uses two oars rather than one.

The Rules

All events are raced over 1000m, rather than the 2000m that is the standard distance in Olympic rowing. As with Olympic rowing, the precise progression system depends on the number of entries. Generally, competitors race in heats and repechages before going on to contest the finals.

The first boat (measured from the bow-ball of each boat) to cross the finish line is declared the winner.

Athletes competing in the mixed double and the single scull events must comply with strict rules on how they are strapped into their boat to ensure that competition is fair.

Seats on both the mixed double and single scull events are fixed and are adapted to provide additional support to the athletes. The single scull boats are also equipped with buoyancy devices to provide additional lateral balance to the boats.