ALLEZ LES PARAS!
The Paris Paralympic Regatta was not only a marvellous Olympics occasion, but it also showed the world just how strongly Great Britain supports disabled sport with GB’s success on the leaderboard in general and the complete domination of pararowing. It’s not surprising that several of the athletes from other countries came to the UK for some of their training. For example, Asiya Mohammed of Kenya (see below) was the flag bearer for her country, and Ebba Einarsson of Sweden (see below) who started her para career with a stint in the UK.
A few members of the Community Adaptive Group assist British Rowing with responding to enquiries about adaptive and pararowing. Typically, we would get several each month, but since the Games started, the “Olympic” bump has driven that up to many per week. So expect even more support for the sport in the aftermath.
Christopher Johnson, father to pararower Sebastian and safety launch driver for Marlow RC, commented on the three day event@
- “A mesmeric three days. Sebastian and I loved every moment. The rowing was incredible and exciting… Sebastian says it was a para rowing bubble and he felt completely at home. Hence the beaming smiles!”
BEN HERO
Of all the GB para superstars, one stands out in the adaptive rowing community – Ben Pritchard (see top). He has competed in community regattas with the other adaptives. He has trained at local rowing clubs, participated in the community’s Facebook “Rowability” group and has by far to the most extensive array of adaptive athletes that he has supported and befriended. As a result, the community was especially thrilled by his stunning performance this weekend which capped a brilliant rowing career fighting for his place on the podium against legends of the sport (eg. Horrie, Poliansky) as well as all sorts of other added obstacles (eg. Injury, the “COVID Games”).
GOOD / BAD NEWS
The overall event was truly superb but there were a number of niggles which I share here as feedback for future events or heads-up for future event attendees:
Disappointing…
- Heat Attendance – The first day only 25% full. I appreciate the Final day is the grand climax, but still there was stunning races on the very first day of competition. I know several people who decried missing out on the Sunday tickets, but there were plenty to have the other two days.
- Distance – The distance from the train station to the venue was nearly a mile to walk. Fortunately, it was a charming French town on a (mostly) lovely summer’s day and I guess shuttling 10,000 attendees would have been a logistical nightmare. Many people were content to walk, but there could have been more information about this distance and maybe an optional shuttle for those who were willing to wait for a ride.
- Merchandise – The Games had only TWO clothing items for the Paralympics and 1 plush toy. For once, the Games’ mascot, a riff on the “Phrygian cap” or “liberty cap,” was really quite fun and quirky. And the Olympics.com website did versions for every para-sport (see rowing below). I was gutted that they didn’t do a tee with that image. We made a special trip to the Olympics Superstore at the Champs Elysees and they too had no more merch.
- Venue Information – A particular pet-peeve is that the venue information (both on its website and the “Spectator Guide” that was produced indicated that there were no place for large bags so only bring essential items. As a result, we had to hustle to find a place to ditch our bags because we were proceeding directly to the airport after the Finals. Well, it turns out there WAS a bag check that somehow no one got the memo about.
- Refreshments – The refreshments were limited to some soft drinks, coffee (black only as zero milk was available for it), heated-up pre-made waffles and crepes, and some packets of crisps and candies. On top of that, the stands were woefully understaffed leading to massive queues. They had several extra stands available but didn’t open them even on the Finals day that was sold-out.
- Screen – The video screen broke several times which was quite problematic for an event where 80% of it takes place too far away to see.
Superb…
- Attendance – The Finals day was completely sold out making for an electric vibe.
- Vibe – The organisers did arrange some thoroughly fun bits to fill the time between races including a wandering bass band getting the crowd to join in on popular favorites. But the best bit was the roving “Can Can Cam”. The real-time graphic was especially dear to my heart from my Piero days and superimposed dancing can-can legs on members of the audience who played it up with panache.
- Racing – Rowing can be not a particularly spectator-friendly sport with many results determined by the time the boats come into view. But the entire weekend was packed with riveting battles right down to the final few metres giving the crowd plenty to shout about.
- Competition Info – Credit to World Rowing whose website with details on the competition was the most comprehensive and easy to use of any sport I explored. It really helped to know who was up next, how they had performed and loads of other great background information.
While the Paralympic Regatta may be finished, the opportunity to cheer on one of our UK adaptive rowers at The Games is not as Marlow RC’s Mari Duward-Akhurst is part of the GB para-equestrian team (and it currently ranked #1 in the world in her class (Grade 1), and she is riding tomorrow morning.
