Paralympic and World Champion Lauren Rowles breaks world record in lockdown

July 3, 2020

Paralympic and World Champion Lauren Rowles MBE has broken her own age group world 2km record in her living room at home

Racing as part of last weekend’s British Rowing Virtual Championships, Lauren’s latest time of 8:09.7 beats her own previous age group world record of 8:18.1 from the 2019 British Rowing Indoor Championships. She now has her sights firmly set on the overall world record, which stands at 8:03.0.

“As one of my favourite CrossFitters says, I’m happy but hungry.” Lauren says. “It’s good to be back out there and get a 2k under the belt, I pushed on from my BRIC performance but I’m hungry for more. I have been faster this season and know I can go quicker. I’m here to play with the big dogs and be the best in the world and I’m excited to get back out on the water with the team now and push on towards Tokyo.”

“It’s been a tough lockdown period for us all, carrying on with normal training during a time where we should be prepping for the Paralympic Games is mentally tough. I’ve really enjoyed being able to get back into the competition mindset; there’s been lots of exciting racing going on in the Global Virtual Rowing Challenge and now the British Rowing Virtual Championships. It’s been great to see the community unite together in these unprecedented times and despite not being able to compete on the water we have been able to keep the competitive fire alive.”

Lauren recently mentored BBC’s Lindsey Russell in the ‘Train Your Way to Tokyo’ challenge, which saw Lindsey team up with athletes from British Rowing, British Cycling and British Athletics to cover the 9,448km distance between the Blue Peter studio in Salford and the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo in just 30 days. The show is available now on BBC iPlayer.