May 2022 - Lauren Rowles

Lauren Rowles has been a familiar name in the world of para rowing since 2015. She is a double Paralympic champion in the PR2 mixed double scull and for the 2022 season has moved into the single scull. The transition has started well as she won gold at World Rowing Cup 1 in Belgrade, Serbia in the PR2 women’s single scull.

World Rowing caught up with Lauren while in Belgrade to hear more about her time in the sport so far and where she hopes to go to next.

How did you get into rowing?

I got into rowing by chance. I was at Stoke Mandeville, which is my rehab centre for my spinal injury. The British Rowing Team were there with their talent scouts and my sport therapist suggested I tried out. I was doing athletics at the time and I was like ‘no I’m not interested’. I had never done any rowing before. She [the therapist] came up to the ward and said ‘please come down, I think it will be worth your time’. I got on an indoor rower and was told ‘pull on the handle as hard as possible’. 2 weeks later I convinced my Mum to drive me down to Reading where the rowing team trains and I was in a boat. I fell and love with it and knew it was what I wanted to do.

You had a great 2021 season – gold in Tokyo. What was the lead-up to Tokyo during the pandemic like for you?

Like nothing I’ve ever experienced before! For me, I was injured in 2017/2018 and missed out on a competitive season for both those years. I had surgeries and setbacks so that, for me, was very similar to that sort of delayed gratification; those setbacks felt very similar to when we were told that the [Paralympic] Games were going to be delayed. So, I just immediately switched back into that mindset that I had when I was rehabbing. I knew that the Games were going to happen at some point, my goal was still the same and I just needed to keep working towards it.

It obviously changed the plan a little bit. I was training from home two or three times a day. I setup zoom ergos with the squad. I was making sure I was sending links out every day. Some of us were sitting there eating out breakfast while others were erging. Then we started getting other people involved and we created a community around us that helped us through mentally.

Then we went back to training later that season, back into the boats. I trained in my single for all of the winter and most of the spring and then got back into the double probably in around May time. We then had to just hit the training as hard as we could. We were faced with the same as everyone else in the world and we just had to make the best of what we could. I think as a team we did an excellent job of that.

British Rowing has a very strong Para rowing programme. You have been in the rowing season for quite a few years, can you tell us about how you have seen the national and international para scene evolve during that time?

When I joined the team, I had no clue what rowing was anyway but I was immediately stunned. I came from athletics where everything is segregated so you would do World Championships separately, everything was separate. So immediately was this feeling of being integrated with the able-bodied side and your Olympic counterparts, and that was a real nice feeling to have that integration. But that’s how it should be!

Over the years, we’ve just continued to evolve. The reason why I love Paralympic sport so much is because we continue to break boundaries on what is possible and ultimately, we are people with limitations that are trying to do things like able bodied people. We are trying to go out and row as fast as them. We changed the distance and we rose to the challenge of doing that and we were like ‘bring it on’. Look at some of the events and where the times have come from. I think we’ve gained a lot of respect and our able-bodied counterparts are starting to understand what we do now and people are really starting to pay more attention. Those close races are coming in more.

People that have never watched para rowing before, or some of the greats of the Olympic coaches and some of the athletes have come over to me and said; ‘that race was incredible!’ We want to bring the entertainment and we want to push the limitations on how fast we can row.

When you aren’t rowing, what does your life look like?

When I’m not rowing? There’s very little time! You dedicate your life to this sport, but it makes us all. Ultimately, people say that rowing is your personality. A lot of us have things that we do away from the sport, but it consumes us because we love it! Anybody that does sport at this level has to be obsessed!

That being said, I have learned over the years to have separation in my life and to make sure there are things going on external. That for me, when I’m back home and not rowing, I own my own business and I have a new hobby every month pretty much. I have a new puppy, so that’s a bit thing in my life!

I spend a lot of time trying to invest back into rowing as well. Trying to get involved more in the grassroots side, the club side, trying to get more people involved in rowing in the UK. We’re trying to really diversify and I really want more disabled people getting into the sport. It really changed my life and I just don’t think people are aware enough of the sport.

If the likes of people like me can help raise awareness and provide access and shout about it a little bit harder, and get the right facilities in place at clubs and get the word out a little bit by showing what can be done and making it exciting. I think all those things help and will help get people into the sport.

What are your upcoming goals in rowing?

My coach said to me yesterday this was my first World Cup win. I didn’t realise that; I’ve not won a World Cup in eight years of competing international!  You know what, after eight years of doing this, there’s always something new that comes along and there’s always new goals. It’s like my bingo card, I’m gradually knocking the things off.

When I started out in the sport, my intention was always to be the best and to set records and do things that people won’t beat for a long, long time and make history. That is fundamentally what I want to continue to do in this sport and continue to bring people along with me on that journey as well.

I’m always finding those new little bits of excitement from the sport and just being able to mix it up from singles to doubles. That’s why I’m doing the single this year to set a new challenge and be able to compete in more events.

Where is your favourite rowing location?

I would always say my favourite place I’ve every rowed is Aiguebelette. It was my first ever World Rowing Championships – my first ever rowing race actually – but for me, it is one of the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever been to in my life.

This sport has taken me to some of the most beautiful places that I would have never ever gone to before – often in the most random locations. I enjoy just travelling around and going to new places.

If you could give one piece of advice to a rower starting out what would it be?

Don’t quit when you think that you are rubbish at it. Just relentlessly work at it.

Every day is challenging – all of us, we are still trying to get that perfect stroke. The sport is always bigger than you, and that’s why I love it. But, it does get to the point where, once you’ve learned how to do it, and you get to a certain point, it is so much more enjoyable. So just keep working hard, keep persisting and just enjoy it. Most importantly, enjoy the community around you, because that’s the best part of it.

—

“I’m incredibly grateful to have been chosen to be Athlete of the Month. For a para rower to be on there is incredibly special for us. After all these years of competing, it’s really nice to be recognised in this way.”

To follow Lauren on her journey, head over to her Instagram page!