For these para rowers it is all four Paralympic Games

In a few short days, the world will be watching as rowers once again take to the water at Tokyo’s Sea Forest Waterway. This time for the Paralympic regatta. Tokyo 2020 marks the fourth consecutive Games to include rowing since the sport’s Paralympic debut at Beijing 2008.

Remarkably, six of the 96 rowers racing at Tokyo have been to every one of those Games. Meet Claudia Sabino (Brazil), Jolanta Majka (Poland), Josiane Lima (Brazil), Kathryn Ross (Australia), Liudmila Vauchok (Belarus) and Victoria Nolan (Canada).

Claudia Sabino (BRA)

Claudia Sabino is one of two Brazilian rowers setting a perfect attendance record at all four Paralympic Games. It has been 14 years since Sabino struck gold at her first World Rowing event in the Arms and Shoulders (now PR1) single sculls at the 2007 Adaptive World Rowing Championships. While she has taken a number of World Rowing medals since, a Paralympic podium finish has proved elusive, something Sabino, without a doubt, hopes to change at Tokyo 2020 when she races at her fourth Games.

Jolanta Majka (POL)

Poland’s Jolanta Majka is perhaps the most experienced Paralympian of all her competitors. Tokyo 2020 will actually be her fifth Paralympic Games. Her first appearance came in Sydney 2000 where Majka raced as a swimmer in the women’s 100 m backstroke S10 and women’s 4×100 m medley 34 pts events, making the final in the latter. Following those Games and many years of racing in the water, she decided to give racing on the water a try along with her husband Piotr Majka, who raced as her rowing partner until 2009. From silver at her first international race at the 2006 World Rowing Championships, Majka has raced in the Trunk and Arms (now PR2) mixed double sculls to 6^th place at Beijing, 10^th place at London 2012 and 6^th place again at Rio 2016. Majka will race at Tokyo with Michal Gadowski, her rowing partner since 2011.

Josiane Lima (BRA)

Brazil’s second four-time Paralympic rower is Josiane Lima, who was one of the early participants in Brazil’s fledgling para rowing programme in the mid-2000s. Finishing 8^th at her first appearance at the 2006 World Rowing Championships with then partner Rafael Luz in the Trunk and Arms (now PR2) mixed double sculls. The next year Lima won gold with new partner Lucas Pagani at the 2007 World Rowing Championships. Another year and another rowing partner later, Liam made her Paralympic debut finishing 8^th at Beijing 2008 Paralympics, this time with Elton Santana, with whom she claimed silver at the 2009 World Rowing Championships. Lima and her next partner, Isaac Ribeiro raced to 8^th at the London 2012 Games and she has raced with her current partner, Michel Gomes Pessanha since 2014 including their 7^th place finish at Rio 2016.

Kathryn Ross (AUS)

Kathryn Ross made her debut in rowing on the world stage at the 2007 World Rowing Championships where she won silver with her then team mate, John Maclean, in the Trunk and Arms (now PR2) mixed double sculls. She and Maclean again claimed silver at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics. Finishing just shy of the podium at London 2012, Ross and new partner, Gavin Bellis, finally took gold at the 2013 World Rowing Championships. The duo went on to finish 8^th at Rio 2016 and Ross moved into singles competition to win the PR2 women’s single sculls at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. Since the double is the only Paralympic PR2 event, Ross has now partnered with Simon Albury for the upcoming Tokyo Games where she has her eyes set on another podium performance.

Liudmila Vauchok (BLR)

With 14 years of international competition behind her, Belarusian sculler Liudmila Vauchok is no stranger to the World Rowing and Paralympic podium. In her first international season, she captured silver in the Arms and Shoulders (now PR1) women’s single sculls at the 2007 World Rowing Championships where she also raced to 12^th place in the Trunk and Arms (now PR2) mixed double sculls. The following year, Vauchok claimed silver again at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. Four years later it was bronze at London 2012. With a fifth place result in Rio 2016 and more recently finishing 8^th at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, Vauchok, who went on to win the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta, will be looking to step back onto the podium for Tokyo 2020.

Victoria Nolan (CAN)

Victoria Nolan is Canada’s most experienced para rower going into these Paralympics. She’s also the only rower the PR3 mixed fours with coxswain event to have attended all previous Paralympic regattas. Like Vauchok, Nolan’s first World Rowing race was at the 2007 World Rowing Championships, where she took bronze in the Legs, Trunk and Arms (now PR3) mixed fours with coxswain.  The experience gained since, including World Rowing Championship gold in 2010 and a podium finish (bronze) at the Rio 2016 Games, will be invaluable in a crew where only one other member has attended a Games before (Andrew Todd, who also won bronze with this crew at Rio 2016).