The two-sport Paralympic rowers

While most elite athletes content themselves with one sport, Blake Haxton is set to compete in two at the Tokyo Paralympic Games where he will represent the United States in both rowing and sprint canoe.

Haxton started his para sport career in the PR1 men’s single sculls, racing over 2000m. He’s now added 200m sprint canoe in the VL2 (Va’a outrigger canoe with single blade paddle).

“I’d seen paracanoe in Rio in 2016 and reached out to the US team leader to check it out,” says Haxton. “We agreed that my classification is more likely to be competitive in paracanoe than para rowing so I went and began trying it out. The learning curve is steep but it’s been a lot of fun.”

Haxton started paracanoeing in 2018 and a year later made the US Team. “I felt that the classification rules were getting tougher for my disability in rowing and physiologically I wanted to see if I could sprint – canoe is only 200m.”

“There are subtle similarities, like taking a good catch, keeping a set boat, those types of things,” says Haxton. “But beyond that they are extremely different. Not only the distance, but the type of training that’s required and even the race tactics are all different. The start plays a much more important role in the canoe than it does in rowing.”

Haxton has competed in para rowing since 2014, and finished fourth at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. Also in Rio was Javier Reja Muñoz from Spain. He raced in paracanoe at the sport’s Paralympic debut. Five years later in Tokyo, Muñoz has put away his paddle and is now racing in the PR1 men’s single scull.

“After my accident, along the river in Seville, I saw athletes canoeing. When I saw it, I decided to try it,” says Muñoz who has been canoeing now for 11 years. Munoz then started rowing in 2016 at the Club Náutico Sevilla in Seville, Spain. His first international rowing competition was earlier this year 2021 at the European Olympic & Paralympic Continental Qualification Regatta (Varese, ITA), where he surprised his competitors by winning. When asked whether his experience in one sport has a positive or negative impact on performance in the other, he replied “Positive, clearly.”

At 2000m long, para-rowing covers ten times the distance of paracanoe. “I’ll always be more attached to rowing, but I much prefer racing in the canoe” says Haxton. “It’s a shorter sprint and a tighter event overall.  I’ve really been loving it.”

Similarly, Muñoz agrees that paracanoe is preferable for sprinting, while rowing is preferred for longer distances. Haxton will need to prepare for both while in Tokyo. “It’s a lot, to be sure, but taking care of things one day at a time is the name of the game. “

Muñoz would argue that training in both could be beneficial to Haxton’s performance. “If you have been practicing only one sport for many years, by doing a new modality and different competitions, you will have a boost of motivation to achieve new challenges” he says. “You can work the two modalities every day, long-duration training in rowing and speed training in the canoe.”

Haxton is the only US athlete competing in more than one sport at this year’s Paralympic Games. “I feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity,” says Haxton. “The more time I spend around other Paralympians, I’m absolutely certain a lot of them could compete in multiple sports if schedules and resources allowed for it. Fortunately for me, even though rowing and canoeing happen on the same course they don’t overlap and I’m about to go for both.”