Henley Royal Regatta: Adaptive rowing team prepares for final day

The adaptive team were set to take part in the Royal Henley Regatta's last day of 2023

A rowing club has praised increasing levels of inclusion in the sport as the Henley Regatta prepares for adaptive team events on its final day.

The City of Oxford Rowing Club's adaptive team will undertake a rowpast as part of the event at Henley-on-Thames.

The club has hundreds of members in men's, women's, junior and adaptive squads, from beginners to elite.

Club chairman Chris Platt said he has seen inclusion grow "enormously".

"We were very focused on making the adaptive squad a fully functioning part of the club and I'm pleased to say they are now," he said.

The rowing club is situated by Donnington Bridge in Oxford on a stretch of the River Thames known as the Isis.

Henley Royal Regatta is at the heart of the summer social and sporting calendar

It welcomes anyone with a physical, sensory or learning impairment who wishes to take up the sport.

Rachel Lunney, the adaptive squad coordinator, is number two in the boat.

"I wanted to do something I can do because with my disability I can't do a lot of sports," she said.

"With rowing, I can do it."

It has been 25 years since the first adaptive rowing club in Oxford was set up.

'So many opportunities'

But the Henley Regatta has been welcoming disabled rowers for almost 100 years.

The first crew with a visual impairment to compete at the event was Worcester College for the Blind in 1927 during a heat of the Thames Challenge Cup.

Rupert Cross who rowed for Worcester also became an Oxford law professor.

Today, British Rowing, the governing body for both indoor rowing and rowing on water, says that in general, the boats needed for adaptive rowers vary according to the rower's needs.

Amanda Thomas, volunteer coach of the adaptive team, is happy to see more regattas offering adaptive races.

"It is really good at the start of the season when you look at the calendar and see so many opportunities to go out and have fair, fun competition," she said.

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