Lauren Rowles

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Lauren Rowles
MBE
Personal information
Born (1998-04-24) 24 April 1998 (age 23)
Height172 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight56 kg (123 lb)[1]
Sport
SportAthletics (2012–14)
Rowing (2015–present)
Disability classT54 (athletics)
TA (rowing)
Medal record
Women's rowing
Representing  Great Britain
Summer Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro TA mixed double sculls
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo PR2 mixed double sculls
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Ottensheim PR2 mixed double sculls
Silver medal – second place 2015 Aiguebelette TA mixed double sculls

Lauren Rachel Catherine Rowles, MBE[2] (born 24 April 1998) is a British parasport rower and former wheelchair athlete. She won gold with Laurence Whiteley in the trunk-arms mixed double sculls (TAMix2x) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.The pair repeated their achievement in Tokyo at the 2021 Summer Paralympics.

Background[]

Rowles, who is from Cofton Hackett, Bromsgrove District, attended North Bromsgrove High School.[3] At the age of 13 she suddenly developed transverse myelitis (a condition in which the spinal cord is inflamed), which left her with no feeling below her chest.[4] She decided to take up Paralympic sport while watching coverage of the 2012 Summer Paralympics during a stay in Stoke Mandeville Spinal Injuries Unit.[5]

Rowles completed her A-levels at King Edward VI College, Stourbridge,[6] and is currently studying law at Oxford Brookes University.[5] She is openly gay.[7] Rowles is in a relationship with Jude Hamer, a wheelchair basketball player.[8]

Career[]

Rowles competed as a wheelchair racer before switching to rowing. She took up the sport in November 2012 and competed in T54 events.[3] In 2014, she was the England under-16s champion at 100 m, 200 m and 1,500 m. She represented England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games,[9] where she was the youngest track and field athlete in the England team at the age of 16.[3] She reached the final of the T54 1500 m, finishing ninth.[10]

Rowles took up rowing in early 2015.[11] She quickly teamed up with Laurence Whiteley, who had been searching for a suitable partner to compete with for over two years.[12] They competed at the 2015 World Rowing Championships, winning the silver medal in the trunk-arms mixed double sculls.[11] She and Whiteley competed at their first Paralympics in 2016, where they set a world record in the heats,[13] and won gold in the final.[14]

References[]

  1. ^ "Lauren Rowles". GB Rowing. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  2. ^ "New Year's Honours list 2017" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom. 30 December 2016. p. 82. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Lauren is relishing Glasgow Games". Bromsgrove Standard. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  4. ^ "Lauren Rowles shortlisted for West Midlands Community Sports Awards". BBC News. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Great Britain's Paralympic rowers celebrate Rio gold rush". BT Sport. Press Association. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  6. ^ "King Ed's international rower Lauren Rowles wins her place on team GB in Rio 2016". King Edward VI College. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Paralympian Lauren Rowles wants to be the gay, disabled role model she never had". PinkNews - Gay news, reviews and comment from the world's most read lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans news service. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Team GB Paralympian came out after finding love with fellow champion". 24 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Lauren Rowles". British Rowing. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Lauren Rowles". Glasgow 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Lauren Rowles". Paralympics GB. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  12. ^ "Relph delight as British boats dominate Paralympic rowing regatta". Eurosport. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Fast and fabulous: Paralympians hit their peak in Rio". International Paralympic Committee. 9 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Rio Paralympics 2016: Rachel Morris leads triple gold for GB's rowers". BBC Sport. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
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