Aggar Wins Gold at Rowing World Championships in Slovenia

Great Britain’s Tom Aggar has won gold in the Adaptive Men's Arms and Shoulders Single Scull (ASM1x) event at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Lake Bled, Slovenia.

The Paralympic champion finished with a time of 4:58.01 to retain his world title.

Russia’s Alexey Chuvashev (5:00.09) took silver and Australia’s Erik Horrie bronze. In so doing they have met the qualification criteria for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Other rowers meeting the criteria include USA’s Ronald Harvey, Korea’s Jun Ha Park and Spain’s Edorta de Anta Lecuona.

Saturday (3 September) will see the finals of the Trunk and Arms Mixed Double Scull (TAMix2x) event, in which Australia’s Kathryn Ross and John Maclean, silver medallists from the 2008 Beijing Games, will compete.

“It’s fantastic to qualify the boat for the final and ultimately qualify it for the Games next year,” Maclean told the Australian Paralympic Committee.

Ross, who hails from Warrnambool, but now trains at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, was ecstatic with the result.

“It’s great that we have the first box ticked now,” Ross said. “Hopefully we can win a medal in the final, but it will be very tight racing and very close.”