Rowing Ones to Watch announced for Rio 2016

The athletes to look out for in the sport at September’s Paralympic Games include four from the single sculls, one mixed double sculls and one coxed four team. 14 Jan 2016

Great Britain's Rachel Morris wins silver in the women's single sculls at the 2015 World Rowing Championships

ⒸFISA Igor Meijer

On Thursday (14 January), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced its Ones to Watch athletes for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in rowing.

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, which run from 7-18 September, will see up to 4,350 athletes from around 170 countries compete in 528 medal events across 22 different sports.

In an effort to make it easier for the public and media to understand which athletes to look out for at Rio 2016, the IPC between 4-15 January is announcing Ones to Watch in all 22 sports.

The Ones to Watch athletes for rowing are as follows:

Erik Horrie (AUS)

Since finishing with the silver medal at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Horrie has been dominating the AS men’s class, capturing his third straight world title at the 2015 World Championships.

Igor Bondar (UKR)

Bondar first began rowing in 2011 and has been a consistent top-three finisher in the AS men’s single sculls. Bondar returned for the 2015 World Championships, where he finished just a fraction short of second place behind Great Britain’s Tom Aggar.

Moran Samuel (ISR)

It took five years, but Moran Samuel finally landed her first world title at the 2015 Rowing World Championships, winning the AS women’s single sculls. After winning the World Cup in Varese, Italy, earlier in the year, she was named World Rowing’s 2015 Para Crew of the Year.

Rachel Morris (GBR)

Morris has made a strong recovery following shoulder surgery and has been climbing back to the top of the AS women’s single sculls class. At the 2015 Rowing World Championships, Morris narrowly missed out on gold, taking silver 1.10 seconds behind the winner Samuel.

Great Britain’s LTA Mixed coxed four team

Comprised of James Fox, Pamela Relph, Daniel Brown, Grace Clough and cox James Fox, the crew have dominated their event for the past three years. At the 2015 Rowing World Championships, the British crew narrowly beat the USA boat by 0.26 seconds. Earlier in 2015, they posted an impressive world best time of 3:13:76 in the World Cup in Varese.

Australia’s TA mixed double sculls team

Since finishing fifth at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Gavin Bellis and Kathryn Ross have been climbing, winning every major race since 2013 in the TA mixed double sculls. Their most recent was gold at the 2015 World Championships.

On Friday (15 January), the IPC will announce the Ones to Watch for athletics.