Reactions from Day 1 at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games Regatta

On the first day of racing at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games Regatta in Vaires-sur-Marne, Paris, all crews raced in heats. While the first four races got away on schedule, a thunderstorm caused the remainder of the session to be delayed, but eventually being completed on calm waters. We caught up with some of the competitors after their racing:

It was a fast start to the regatta when Israel’s Moran Samuel set a new Paralympic Best Time in the first race of the day, heat one of the PR1 women’s single sculls. After the race, Moran said;

“We all saw the progress we did since Tokyo 2020 and you can’t compare the weather conditions as it was in Tokyo. I’m happy, and I think we can even do better than that, all of us. I was able to execute exactly what I wanted in this race, so I feel great. I had a race plan, I knew the conditions could affect it a little bit. It’s numbers. With the right conditions you know what you need to do.”

 Meanwhile, in the second heat, a sprint to the line from Ukraine’s Anna Sheremet saw her overhaul the reigning Paralympic and World Champion, Birgit Skarstein of Norway. Speaking about the race, Skarstein said;

“That was a horrible race but it’s nice to be started. I was thinking this is going to be really, really tough. She’s a strong athlete. I had no misperception that she was not going to be pushing. I feel like I’m hunting. I don’t feel like I’m defending anything, I just feel like we’re all pushing each other. I feel like we’re all just coming here to hunt for those medals.  They’re all really strong and really good athletes that I’m fighting against, and that’s what makes this fun too.”

In the PR1 men’s single sculls, the reigning Paralympic Champion Roman Polianskyi set a new Paralympic Games Best Time in heat one only for Great Britain’s Benjamin Pritchard to bear it in heat two. Pritchard was pleased with his performance;

“I executed my race, I didn’t look around. I actually knew I’d got the lead because of the commentators. I could hear them on the speaker and she said, ‘Benjamin Pritchard’s just taken the lead’. I was like, ‘There we go then’.  I heard (heat 1 winner) Roman beat it before me, so it’s good to get it back off Ukraine. I guess it leads to an exciting final on Sunday.”

The fast times continued in the PR2 mixed double sculls when Great Britain’s Lauren Rowles and Gregg Stevenson not only set a new Paralympic Games Bess Time but they even beat their own World Best Time. Speaking on breaking the records, Lauren said;

“You have to show up or show out to a Paralympic Games, and today we showed up. We’ve been preparing so hard for this moment. We’ve been promising to all the fans out there and all our families now for the best part of two years that we were going to do sub-eight minutes, and we wanted to deliver on that today.”

The British crew were led by France to the 500m marker and Gregg, who is much newer to the sport than Lauren added;

“We knew everyone’s bringing their A-game, and that’s how it felt. We know they’re quick off the start, and full respect to them for being brave enough to take it on. We were like, ‘OK, it’s one of those races, we’ve got to go’.”

 Today saw the PR3 mixed double scull make its debut in the Paralympic Programme. Australia’s Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager were the fastest across the two heats so are the holders of the first Paralympic Games Best Time. Ayers spoke about how proud they are to be part of the Games;

“It was awesome to cross the line first. The goal was to do that, and qualify for the A-final.  It’s a really good feeling. This is the biggest stage for us at the Paralympics, we’re in the green and gold with our family in the stand and our country watching back home, and it was just a super-proud moment.”

The last boat class to be raced was the PR3 coxed four and Great Britain were the crew that all eyes were on. They have dominated this boat class – unbeaten since 2010. Giedre Rakauskaite, who has been in the crew since 2017 and is reigning Paralympic and World Champion, spoke a bit about what makes the crew so successful;

“We’re very calm, we’re collected, we’re incredibly supportive of each other. We are pushing this, pushing ourselves, but at the same time we’re pushing each other to be better every single day. And we do it in the most positive way. It’s really nice to be part of this crew and I can’t wait to see what more we can do.”

The second heat, and last race of the opening day was won by the USA. Skylar Dahl indicated that come the final (on Sunday), they will row their own race.

“We’re really not worried about anyone else. We’re going to do what we’re going to do, and it’s our plan and it’s our race. We’re just going to do what we can do and we’re going to have a lot of fun doing it.”

Tomorrow, Saturday 31 August will see the repechages be raced to confirm the lineups for the finals which will take place on Sunday 1 September.