New adaptive rowing event introduced

An event for the intellectually disabled will bring the number of adaptive rowing events to five on the international rowing stage. Chair of FISA’s adaptive commission, Fay Ho, says athletes with intellectual disabilities are not currently part of the Paralympic programme, but rowing has decided to plan ahead.

The event will be the legs, trunk and arms coxed four, denoted as LTA-IDMx4+ and it will be for mixed gender intellectually disabled athletes with an able-bodied coxswain. In the current coxed four, the LTAMx4+, for the Paralympic Games, only physically disabled athletes are included. But under FISA rules the LTAMx4+ can include intellectually disabled athletes.

“Because intellectually disabled athletes were not included in the 2008 Paralympic programme, they couldn’t row for the last two years at the World Rowing Championships,” explains Ho. “So FISA decided that it is important to involve them every year, rather than two years on and two years off.”

Ho says they are not sure whether intellectually disabled athletes will be added to the 2012 Paralympic programme. The International Paralympic Committee, IPC, is currently in discussions on whether they will be included. Intellectually disabled athletes were included in the 1996 and 2000 Paralympic Games, but not at the 2004 and 2008 Games.

“Rowing, as a sport, is on the IPC’s list of sports that could possibly include intellectually disabled athletes. The IPC is considering whether or not to re-introduce events for these athletes,” says Ho. “Our idea is to have intellectually disabled in their own boat, not mixed in with physically disabled.”

This year’s Rowing World Cup in Munich, Germany, will be the first time internationally for the new event. At present Portugal has a team while Hong Kong, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands are developing teams.

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