British Athletes Dominate Italian Regatta

The fourth edition of the Gavirate International Adaptive Regatta saw strong finishes from athletes in Rowing this past weekend.

Taking place from 1-2 May, Great Britain finished the regatta at the top of the medals table overall with the help of Paralympian Tom Aggar. Aggar also took the gold medal in the Men’s Single Sculls AM1x at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

With wet conditions, teams from Portugal, Spain, Germany, Russia, Poland, Great Britain, Ireland and Italy raced at one of the few regattas dedicated solely to Adaptive Rowing. Hosts Italy finished second overall at the end of the two days of racing which included finals on both days for the four boat classes.

The competition was a chance for coaches to get the 2010 season underway and to test different team boat combinations. It is the first step on the road to selection for the 2010 World Rowing Championships in New Zealand at the end of October.

Great Britain also was on top in the legs, trunk and arms mixed coxed four (LTA4+). The crew of Kelsie Gibson, James Roe, Ryan Chamberlain, Naomi Riches and coxswain Rhiannon Jones won both days against strong crews from Ireland, Italy and Germany. Ireland took second place, with Karen Cromie, Shane Ryan, Kevin Dutiot, Sarah Caffrey, and coxswain Laura Purdy on the crew.

Adaptive Rowing is open to male and female athletes, and is divided into four boat classes which are included in FISA's World Championship programme: LTA4+, TA2x, AW1x and AM1x.The LTA4+ and TA2x are mixed gender boats. Races are held over 1,000m for all four events (although LTA4+ was raced over 2,000m until the FISA 2005 World Rowing Championships).