Rowing included in 2008 Paralympic Games programme

Press Release – The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced yesterday that Rowing was to be included in the programme of the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

The sport was voted in during the first meeting of the IPC Governing Board which took place in Turin, Italy on 9 and 10 April.

Rowing is the only new sport to have been voted in this week-end, and joins the 19 established Paralympics sports.

Phil Craven, IPC President said: “FISA is to be congratulated on the tremendous work it has undertaken to develop adapted rowing into the newest Paralympic sport. Now the stage is set in Beijing for Paralympic rowers to inspire and excite the world.”

Denis Oswald, FISA President, said ?Rowing is very proud to be invited to take part in this fantastic event. Our adaptive rowers and their supporters have worked very hard to reach this important milestone in the development of the sport and now it will really move forward.?

Up until now, Paralympics sports were mainly classified by disability rather than sport. Rowing is one of the first sports federations to have fully integrated, as FISA calls it, ?adaptive? rowing into its federation. Adaptive implies that the equipment is ?adapted? to the user to practice the sport, rather than the sport being ?adapted? to the user.

FISA introduced Adaptive rowing on a ?World Championship? level at its 2002 World Rowing Championships in Seville, Spain, when 38 athletes competed in the single sculls and the coxed four. The sport continued to develop since with four boat classes at the 2003 World Rowing Championships in Milan, Italy. Last year, at the 2004 World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships in Banyoles, Spain, 66 adaptive rowing athletes took part.

The Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games will take place from 6 to 17 September 2008.

Click here for more information about adaptive rowing or visit the official IPC website on www.paralympic.org.

For additional queries, please contact Marion Gallimore, Marketing & Communications Manager, FISA – International Rowing Federation, Av. de Cour 135, Lausanne 1007, Switzerland, Tel. +41 21 612 0226, Fax +41 21 617 8375

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