Lauren Rowles
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 24 April 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 56kg | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 172cm[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sport |
Athletics (2012–14) Rowing (2015–present) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class |
T54 (athletics) TA (rowing) | ||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Lauren Rowles (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.
Background
Rowles, who is from Cofton Hackett, Bromsgrove District, attended North Bromsgrove High School.[2] 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.[3] She decided to take up Paralympic sport while watching coverage of the 2012 Summer Paralympics during a stay in Stoke Mandeville Spinal Injuries Unit.[4]
Rowles completed her A-levels at King Edward VI College, Stourbridge,[5] and is currently studying law at Oxford Brookes University.[4]
Career
Rowles competed as a wheelchair racer before switching to rowing. She took up the sport in November 2012 and competed in T54 events.[2] 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,[6] where she was the youngest track and field athlete in the England team at the age of 16.[2] She reached the final of the T54 1500 m, finishing ninth.[7]
Rowles took up rowing in early 2015.[8] She quickly teamed up with Laurence Whiteley, who had been searching for a suitable partner to compete with for over two years.[9] They competed at the 2015 World Rowing Championships, winning the silver medal in the trunk-arms mixed double sculls.[8] She and Whiteley competed at their first Paralympics in 2016, where they set a world record in the heats,[10] and won gold in the final.[11]
References
- ↑ "Lauren Rowles". GB Rowing. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Lauren is relishing Glasgow Games". Bromsgrove Standard. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ↑ "Lauren Rowles shortlisted for West Midlands Community Sports Awards". BBC News. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- 1 2 "Great Britain's Paralympic rowers celebrate Rio gold rush". BT Sport. Press Association. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ↑ "King Ed's international rower Lauren Rowles wins her place on team GB in Rio 2016". King Edward VI College. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ↑ "Lauren Rowles". British Rowing. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ↑ "Lauren Rowles". Glasgow 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- 1 2 "Lauren Rowles". Paralympics GB. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ↑ "Relph delight as British boats dominate Paralympic rowing regatta". Eurosport. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ↑ "Fast and fabulous: Paralympians hit their peak in Rio". International Paralympic Committee. 9 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016.
- ↑ "Rio Paralympics 2016: Rachel Morris leads triple gold for GB's rowers". BBC Sport. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.