Pathways to Performance Rowing
If you want to make it to the podium, we have a pathway for you to get there.
Check out our programmes below and find your path to high performance rowing.
No rowing experience? Start here
The Olympic pathway identifies and develops individuals with the potential to become GB Olympic Rowers.
Our GB Performance Development Academies are based around the country and talent spot individuals with no rowing experience, giving them the tools and training they need to reach the highest levels of our sport.
GB Performance Development Academies
The GB Performance Development Academies form one of the most successful Olympic sport Talent ID programmes in Great Britain.
As an athlete at a Performance Development Academy, you’ll not only develop as a rower, but you’ll also learn important life skills including resilience, teamwork, leadership, accountability, discipline, and many more.
ANYONE can sign up, no matter what your background or sporting experience!
Are you a potential Paralympian?
GB is the most successful Paralympic rowing nation in the world and we’re always recruiting.
Find out more about classification below!
PR1 Classification
PR1 (previously known as AS – Arms Shoulders) athletes row with their shoulders and arms only due to minimal or no trunk function. They use strapping around their trunk with optional leg straps for stability in the boat and on the rowing machine.
Some examples of disabilities that can classify as PR1 include:
- Incomplete spinal cord lesion
- Complete T12 spinal cord lesion
- Bilateral above knee amputee
PR2 Classification
PR2 (previously known as TA – trunk and arms) have trunk and arm function, meaning they have more movement than a PR1 athlete but are unable to use their legs to move the sliding seat. They row on a fixed seat, with optional leg straps to maintain stability in a boat or on an indoor rowing machine.
Some examples of PR2 disabilities are:
- Significantly reduced knee flexion (e.g. fused knee, deformation of hip/knee area)
- Bilateral lower limb amputee (one above knee, one below)
- Incomplete spinal cord lesion
PR3 Classification
PR3 rowers can use the sliding seat you see in non-adaptive rowing. They will have a physical or visual impairment which meets the minimum criteria to be able to compete in Paralympic events.
Some examples of disabilities are:
- Restricted ankle/wrist movement (e.g. fused ankle, club foot)
- Three finger amputation on one hand
- B3/B2 visual impairment
- Below knee amputee with residual stump longer than half of original tibia length
- Erb’s Palsy
Become an Olympic Beach Sprint rower
We’re looking for rowers who want to experience a brand-new side of the sport to trial for the GB Beach Sprint Team. There will be opportunities to row for Wales, Scotland, England and GB as a whole – open to both senior rowers and U19s.
If you’re a rower, cox, coach or boat handler and are interested in finding out more about the GB Beach Sprint Team, find out more below!
Already rowing?
We have a number of programmes run by British Rowing, Scottish Rowing and Welsh Rowing, designed to provide development and education opportunities for rowers who are aspiring to the GB Rowing Team.
Our GB High Performance Academies are a great place to start for rowers who are looking at Olympic selection.
GB High Performance Academies
There are 8 Academies, both clubs and universities, which are recognised for developing athletes to join the Olympic Squads.
- Leander Club
- Molesey BC
- Oxford Brookes University BC
- University of London BC
- Durham University BC
- Newcastle University BC
- Edinburgh University BC
- Crew Sculling Academy – hosted by Eton Excelsior RC
Are you a student? Even if you’ve just started rowing at university, you could make it to the highest levels of performance in our sport. The Student Development Programme helps you get there.
Student Development Programme
The Student Development Programme is an opportunity to show what you are made of and come together with other like-minded students from across the country to drive your development. Even if you start rowing at university you still have the potential to make it to the top of our sport. At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, 21% of rowers representing Great Britain started their rowing career at university!
If you’re rowing and attending a state-funded school or college and a J16, you could gain a Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE).
DiSE
DiSE is an education programme, governed by Sport England, that covers subjects from technique and race planning to career planning and sports ethics. It supports the key messages that all potential GB team athletes are required to understand, and is part of the wider GB Rowing Team Athlete Development Pathway.
The programme has been designed to support young people to develop and achieve their full potential as athletes as well as gaining an additional qualification. It is intended to be delivered alongside the athlete’s other studies, which they must be undertaking at a state-funded school or college.
