Helen Glover, two-time Olympic Champion, Team GB opening ceremony flag bearer and Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist; Lauren Rowles, three-time Paralympic Champion and the world’s most successful Paralympic rower ever; and two-time Paralympic Champion cox, Erin Kennedy, who is also recognised for her breast cancer awareness work, have all been awarded OBEs (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the King’s New Year’s Honours List.

In addition, seven Olympic and Paralympic Champions have been awarded MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire). The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic gold medal winners receiving MBEs are Lauren Henry, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson, and Georgie Brayshaw from the Women’s quadruple sculls (W4x); Emily Craig and Imogen Grant from the Lightweight Women’s double sculls (LW2x) and Gregg Stevenson from the PR2 Mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix2x).

GB Rowing Team Director of Performance Louise Kingsley said, “A huge congratulations to the athletes who have been awarded OBEs and MBEs in the King’s New Year Honours List. The entire squad produced record breaking results at both the Olympics and Paralympics in the Summer and have continued to drive awareness and interest in the sport since their return home, by inspiring the next generation and giving back to the community with club visits, school visits and charity work. I’m very proud to see so many of them being recognised with Honours and it’s a fitting way to top off a very successful year!”

Long-serving 91ÌÒÉ« Umpire David Biddulph has also been awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for his services to rowing. He first qualified as a national umpire 45 years ago, in 1979, gaining Multi-Lane endorsement in 1992 and FISA (now World Rowing) status in 1995, and umpired the Men’s pair final at London 2012. David has been a prolific volunteer as an umpire on the domestic competition circuit and is also known to many in the rowing community as the creator of one of the earliest rowing information websites, which remains an essential source of competition calendar details, obituaries, and results.

91ÌÒÉ« CEO Alastair Marks said, “Volunteers like David, whose continued dedication and contribution have had a lasting impact on the sport, are highly valued by the community. It’s truly gratifying to see him receive the recognition he so richly deserves.”

Photos: Benedict Tufnell and Team GB

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Gregg became interested in rowing after trying out for the Invictus Games in 2018, following a traumatic injury during his time as a Royal Engineer Commando in Afghanistan 2009, which led to a bilateral lower limb amputation. In 2019, he spent some time at Caversham, but an injury curtailed his Tokyo 2020 aspirations. He returned in 2023 after spending time with the development squad and coaches at Agecroft RC. With renewed energy and overall development, he and Lauren Rowles developed their partnership in the PR2 Mixed Double sculls (PR2 Mix2x), becoming two-time European Champions, World Champions and Paralympic Champions, continually lowering the world’s best time as they went!

Photo: Benedict Tufnell.

Gregg said: “I am incredibly grateful for the support from all the coaches involved in my development and journey to the Paris Paralympic Games. I have learned a lot about myself and feel I have grown as a person since my involvement.

“It has been hard to imagine life without the goal of competing in the summer, even though my time within the team has been particularly short. However, I eagerly look forward to spending more time with my family and embarking on other exciting challenges. I will be forever grateful to everyone at GB Rowing and I hope to stay connected or offer my support in the future.”

Nick Baker, Paralympic Head Coach said: “Gregg is one of those athletes you rarely come across in elite sport. Humble, talented, hardworking and willing to accept and respond to challenging feedback to improve his own and his team performance. Gregg brought an unshakable positivity to a team that is always under pressure and has an expectation to perform wherever it goes. Gregg will be missed dearly by all of our team, however it’s great to know that he will be sharing his energy in the veteran community and he’ll have a huge impact on those who have seen conflict. Good luck Gregg, it was an honour to work with you.”

Before rowing, Gregg worked as a mental health practitioner for an NHS veteran-specific service called ‘Op Courage’, where he played a vital role in developing and improving coping strategies, increasing patient engagement and familiarity. He has a great passion for improving mental health provision and breaking down barriers to healthcare. He’s currently serving as the Armed Forces Lived Experience Lead for Op Courage North. He completed his MSc in Psychology with distinction, and is now studying for a PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Team of the Year 

The TeamGB Women’s Quadruple Sculls won an outstanding gold in a photo finish against the Dutch crew by 0.15 seconds at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The historic win of Lauren Henry, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson and Georgie Brayshaw made them the first crew to secure Olympic gold for Great Britain in the boat class, concluding their 2024 Olympiad as reigning World, European, and Olympic champions.

The Team of the Year is open to public vote.

Citi Disability Sportswoman of the Year

Lauren Rowles MBE made history at the Paris 2024 Paralympics by becoming rowing’s first three-time Paralympic gold medalist, winning the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls event alongside teammate Gregg Stevenson. Lauren has been unbeaten since the 2019 World Rowing Championships and, alongside Gregg, set the World Best Time in their Paris 2024 heat. Outside of rowing, Lauren is an active spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ community and works to encourage and inspire children to get involved in sport.

Voting is open until 12pm on Wednesday, 27 November.

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The World Rowing Awards celebrate the very best in the sport, and recognise the ‘first among equals’ on the global stage. Great Britain had more finalists this year than any other country, with the Men’s Eight shortlisted for Men’s Crew of the Year, the Women’s Quadruple Sculls for Women’s Crew of the Year, PR1 Single Sculler Benjamin Pritchard for Para Crew of the Year, and Nick Baker and Darren Whiter for Coach of the Year.

Para Crew of the Year: Lauren Rowles, Gregg Stevenson, PR2 Mixed Double Sculls

Lauren and Gregg won the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls at the Paralympic Games Regatta in Paris this summer in truly superb style. Having established themselves as the crew to beat, they produced a phenomenal last 500m to row through from second place to win.

The crew has been unbeaten since their first race together at the European Championships, and for Lauren this was the culmination of an unbeaten streak since the World Rowing Championships in 2019.

In their two years of racing together, Lauren and Gregg have set numerous new World Best Times for the event, most recently in their heat at Paris 2024. They also hold the World Championships best time, set in 2023.

Nick Baker Paralympic Head Coach said, “Lauren and Gregg were an unbeaten combination during their two season partnership. They were a true team, supporting each other far beyond the bounds of the boat and competition. Gregg showed inspirational resilience, returning to the team in such dominant fashion after an injury stopped his campaign for selection in the Tokyo cycle. Lauren is now the most successful Paralympian in rowing since the sport was introduced to the Paralympics in 2008 and the most impressive athlete I’ve ever come across. A well deserved award for this incredible duo.”

Rowing Programme of the Year: Fulham Reach Boat Club

The comprehensive judging criteria for this new award for clubs, universities or schools spans competitive achievement – including recognition of athletes’ achievements, program development – including qualifications, experience, and achievements of the coaching staff, community engagement, and commitment to promote the sport of rowing.

Fulham Reach BC CEO Adam Freeman-Pask, who received the award along with the club’s Chief of Operations Alastair Horn, said, “It is fantastic to be recognised with the inaugural World Rowing Programme of the Year. At Fulham Reach we take a holistic approach to using our wonderful sport of rowing for good across youth development, crime reduction, adaptive and the environment! We aim to keep innovating and inspiring how we can give more people the unique benefits rowing can bring such as physical and mental health, personal development such as teamwork, confidence and leadership, as well as community cohesion and connection to the environment.”

Artistic Contribution of the Year: Annabel Eyres OLY

This new award celebrates the intersection between creativity and sport, and is for a work of art – including visual arts, still or moving images and literature – created in the past year that reflects the spirit and beauty of rowing.

Annabel Eyres finished fifth in the Women’s Double Sculls at Barcelona 1992, having funded her international rowing through her design-driven rowing kit business. Her artistic career has gone from strength to strength since then, which meant that she was an ideal choice to be selected as one of the six for Paris 2024, artists who had previously competed as athletes at an Olympic or Paralympic Games.

Annabel said, “I’m deeply honoured to be the recipient of the inaugural Artistic Contribution of the Year award. It is inspiring that World Rowing is furthering the work of the Olympic Museum in recognising the vital role creativity and art play in representing and promoting sport.

“Acknowledging the link between ‘muscles and mind’ was an important part of the vision that Baron de Coubertin had in founding of the modern Olympic Games.  In his poem Ode to Sport he wrote, ‘There can be no beauty without balance and proportion, and you are the peerless master of both, for you create harmony, you give movements rhythm, you make strength graceful and you endow suppleness with power.’ I’m sure that all rowers can all agree that he is describing our beautiful sport, which has been my life-long inspiration, to perfection!”

The winners are pictured at the award ceremony with 91ÌÒÉ« Chair and World Rowing Indoor Commission member Mark Davies, and World Rowing Executive Committee Member Rosie Mayglothling.

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The British national anthem played out three times across the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on the final day of the Paralympic Rowing Regatta, as all four of the ParalympicsGB boats took home a medal.

Lauren Rowles became the first rower from any country to win three Paralympic gold medals as she and her PR2 Mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix 2x) partner, Paralympic debutant and former Royal Engineer Commando, Gregg Stevenson won in fine style pulling ahead of the Chinese in the final 500m of the race to take their place at the top of the podium, maintaining their unbeaten streak during the Paris cycle.

Credit: Benedict Tufnell / 91ÌÒÉ«

Lauren said: “Out of my three Paralympic gold medals, this is definitely the best one yet! To do it for the third time in a row – history was made today. To have a bit of the Eiffel Tower in these medals and to do it with Gregg has been incredible – he’s been the best part about it.

“In our event, people go out there hard. It’s the Paralympic finals so you show up or you show out and today China showed up. They’ve been chasing us for years now and I knew today they would give it some. We wanted to push them to the absolute limit and today we knew we had that speed and surge coming into the finish line.

“We’ve never seen the audience so packed out in rowing before, and I think that really shows how Paralympic sport is going. Gregg’s got two young boys and I’ve got my son Noah who is five months old now, and it’s about a lot more than medals now, it’s about being role models to the boys. Our families and partners are our absolute rocks, Jude has been alone single parenting for five weeks now whilst I’ve been in a boat with Gregg. Our families allow us to achieve this, so it goes without saying that these medals today are for our families and for our boys.”

Greg said:  “Having Lauren and our coach Nick Baker around is all the experience I needed to race that race. For the last few months we’ve said we’ve got to race until the last stroke and that our competition will bring something you don’t expect. I was really impressed with China, what a row for them! They took us right to the end and as soon as I felt we had the momentum I had this little grimace and a smile, like ‘we’re going!’. This is epic. To turn up, work hard, be a role model for my kids and hang out with Lauren who works hard and just achieves is the cherry on top.”

Credit: Benedict Tufnell / 91ÌÒÉ«

The PR1 Men’s single sculls (PR1 M1x) saw GB’s Benjamin Pritchard win an incredible gold medal, finishing 11.37 seconds ahead of Ukraine’s Roman Polianskyi in silver. Benjamin’s phenomenal regatta started with a Paralympic Best Time in the heats and ended as Paralympic Champion.

Ben said: “It’s been all about today and the process. It came off and now I have a gold medal. We are athletes as well as disabled people. We have to do the hard work that athletes do on top of living our disabilities in day to day life. There may be kids with spinal injuries who want to be doctors, producers, artists, whatever it may be – they should be encouraged to do whatever they want to do. The more visibility we have in front of and behind the scenes the better.”

“I had to stay in my lane to do what I did. People have tried different things to win over the past few years – people are rapid off the start in this boat class. But you have to be realistic – it’s a 2,000m race. I stayed in my lane and didn’t know how far ahead I was, but as long as Roman was in my sight – I knew he was what I had to worry about. I’ve beaten him twice here on this lake, so I knew I could do it. Our whole field has moved on 24 seconds in the past three years, any one of the 5 athletes who have raced 2K in under 9 minutes could have gotten gold today. It’s the closest the PR1 Men’s single sculls field has ever been, we haven’t won a gold medal in the PR1 Men’s single sculls field since 2011, so this feels really special.”

The PR3 Mixed coxed four (PR3 Mix4+), Great Britain’s most successful boat, is now unbeaten for 14 years after Frankie Allen, Giedre Rakauskaite, Josh O’Brien, Ed Fuller and cox Erin Kennedy added to a thriving legacy in the final race of the Paralympic Rowing Regatta.

Giedre said: “It’s been fourteen years of winning for this boat, but I think every single year has been pushing us on. We’ve been taking trust from the teammates before us, there has always been an overlap of at least one or two athletes from previous Games so we draw what we can from them and keep pushing on and try to make them proud.

Credit: Benedict Tufnell / 91ÌÒÉ«

“Eighteen years ago today I was in a car accident that led me to becoming a Paralympic athlete. It’s an anniversary that I’m going to celebrate now with a gold medal. Every year this is going to be a golden moment. The Paralympic Games is like a second chance. I always wanted to be an athlete when I was a child, and I thought that chance was taken from me and finding out in my 20s that I can still pursue my dream as a Paralympian was something that I latched on to and clearly didn’t give up.”

Erin paid credit to the crew and the reserves in the squad: “This project has had so many people involved – someone we really want to give a shout out to is Morgan Fice-Noyes, he has been with us in training and the the sixth member of this crew this year.”

Keeping it short and sweet, Josh said: “I took my first stroke in the same season I won gold, so it’s pretty surreal.”

Making their ParalympicsGB debut in the PR3 Mixed double sculls (PR3 Mix 2x) were Sam Murray and Annie Caddick, who also made history as the first crew to win silver in this new boat class.

Sam: “It’s surreal at this moment, we’re trying to take stock of it all but we’re proud of our performance. I didn’t think this was even on my horizon. I left rowing and I was content with where I’d got to – and then it was at the start of the 2023 season when I met Annie, spoke to our Head Coach Nick Baker and realised we could make a crack of this, and now we have a silver medal!”

Annie added: “It was such a tight race with everyone right there – the adrenaline rush the whole time was going. We didn’t settle, we had to keep pushing. At the end Sam said “we’ve got to go!” and I felt him surge, I had to hold on and go with him. We’ve built trust and a bond, so no matter how bad you’re feeling – if one of us goes, we both go. Having this medal means a lot. It’s been a long journey to get here, I’m so proud of us.”

Paralympic hub page

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Two-time Paralympic champion Lauren Rowles and her PR2 Mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix 2x) partner, former Royal Engineer Commando, Gregg Stevenson, flew down the track in a World and Paralympic record breaking time of 7:56.92 to beat their previous World Best Time, set in 2023. The result means they qualify directly to Sunday’s A final.

Speaking after the race, Lauren said: “It feels phenomenal. We’ve been promising the fans, and importantly our partners, that we were going to come out and do a World Best Time. We’ve been saying sub-8 minutes for a really long time so it’s nice to deliver what we’ve been trying to do for the last couple of years together so this felt really good. Personally, I’ve been working myself to try and do sub-8 minutes and push this field out to where it’s never been before and today we’ve done that.”

Gregg, thrilled with the result and making his Paralympic debut aged 39, said: “I’m finally a Paralympian, I’ve done it! It feels unbelievable, especially having this crowd here and my wife and two boys. The past few days have been phenomenal. I’m really enjoying it.”

The PR3 Mixed coxed four (PR3 Mix4+), Great Britain’s most successful boat, continued its impressive 13 year winning streak also clocking up a World and Paralympic Best Time of 6:43.68. The crew Frankie Allen, Giedre Rakauskaite, Josh O’Brien and Ed Fuller and cox, Erin Kennedy, were the fastest across both heats, and are also directly through to the A Final on Sunday.

Commenting on the World Best Time, and making his Paralympic Games debut, Ed said: “You can’t ask for more than that. We knew with our training leading into today that we had quick conditions. Everything came together for us out there and we performed well in that race. Overall it was a solid performance and we now have three more Paralympians in the crew so very happy to be able to call ourselves that.”

On her Paralympic Games experience, Giedre said: “It’s nice to be surrounded by all the athletes in our Para GB building in the village. We’re proud to represent GB and everyone is incredibly supportive, we just want to add to that greatness. The bar is high across all the sports and we want to match it!”

The PR1 Men’s single sculls (PR1 M1x) saw GB’s Benjamin Pritchard achieve a Paralympic Best Time of 8:51.26 and take the one direct place in Sunday’s final. After the race, he said: “I’m really happy. It’s always good to cross the line first but most importantly the times I’ve seen in training are coming to fruition during racing. It’s good to not worry about who is around you, focus on what you’re doing, and trust your body because you know what you’ve been doing in the winter and you know what will work.

“I set a Paralympic Best Time in the repechage in Tokyo and now I’ve done it here, but the goal is a World Record. Nick (Nick Baker, Coach) will tell me off for stopping before the line, but sometimes you need to save a little bit of energy and savour the moment. That’s why I stopped – I knew I had the win, the roar from the crowd was incredible. There was lighting – seeing the lightning strike, it was just a picture. I sat there like ‘this is cool’. I wanted to savour the moment because you don’t get those much in racing. Today felt like the biggest crowd we’ve ever had at a World Rowing regatta and it’s not even sold out – Sunday is sold out, so it’s just going to get better and better. We’ll hope for the same result on Sunday, and if not I know that I’ve put myself in the fight of trying to get a medal and race against the world’s best, which is what you want to do.”

Making their Paralympics GB debut in the PR3 Mixed double sculls (PR3 Mix 2x) were Sam Murray and Annie Caddick who missed out on the automatic qualification spot by just under a second, and will now race again in Saturday’s repechage. Sam said: “It feels good to get our first run down and get the experience of racing here – it’s the start of our weekend.”

Annie added: “We know we’re in the mix, that’s what that race taught us. We know we have to be a bit stronger off the start, but now we can learn from this and hopefully deliver tomorrow  in the repechage.”

Paralympic hub page

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Of the five women and five men, six will make their Paralympic debuts while four are returning Paralympians – including two-time Paralympic champion Lauren Rowles and Tokyo 2020 gold medallists, Giedre Rakauskaite and Erin Kennedy.

“The past achievements of ParalympicsGB’s rowing squads speak for themselves – as a group their hard work, dedication and innate talent consistently pays off, and this squad of 10 athletes – who have already made an indelible mark on the World and European stage – is no different. I’m delighted to welcome all 10 athletes to the ParalympicsGB team for Paris 2024 and can’t wait to see them in action in Paris this summer,” commented ParalympicsGB Chef de Mission, Penny Briscoe.

Commenting on the team selection, 91ÌÒÉ« Head of Olympic and Paralympic Performance Delivery, Tom Dyson, who will be Rowing Team Leader in Paris, said: “Rowing is consistently a top performing sport for ParalympicsGB and we’ll be looking to reinforce that in Paris. While our selected athletes are a blend of returning Tokyo 2020 Paralympians and those for whom Paris will be their first Games, every one of them has a Paralympic, World, European or World Cup gold medal to their credit. When you combine those rowers with a world-class group of coaches and support staff, we are all excited to show the world what the team has trained to deliver in Paris!”

PR2 Mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix2x)

Two-time Paralympic champion Lauren Rowles is joined by former Royal Engineer Commando, Gregg Stevenson, who is making his Paralympic debut at the age of 39. ParalympicsGB were gold medallists in this class at both Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016.

Lauren and Gregg qualified their boat for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in a World Best Time (WBT) of 08:00.57 – the third WBT of their debut season. They remain unbeaten going into these Games.

Lauren said: “It’s my third Games but it feels more exciting than my first. For your first Games there’s so much excitement but you don’t know what you’re getting yourself in for whereas now I know what to expect. It’s going to be so great to experience the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and have friends and family in the stands cheering us on. Our lives have been changed through rowing and we want to show the fans what that means to us!”

Gregg added: “This feels like a long time coming. I had the ambition during the Invictus Games days, around 2018, but never thought I would achieve it, so it’s been quite a journey! I’m so proud of the work that we’ve done to get to this point. The whole Stevenson family, including my wife and boys, will be there in Paris to cheer us on!”

PR3 Mixed coxed four (PR3 Mix4+)

Great Britain’s most successful boat will aim to maintain its impressive 13 year – including three Paralympic Games – winning streak in Paris. The new-look crew sees Tokyo 2020 gold medallists Giedre Rakauskaite and cox Erin Kennedy joined by Paralympic debutants Frankie Allen, Ed Fuller and Josh O’Brien.

Josh made his GB Rowing team debut, winning gold, at the 2024 European Championships. Speaking about his selection, he said: “The last few months have been a total whirlwind with trials and racing and now I’m selected for the Paralympics, it’s so exciting! I only started rowing two years ago at Birmingham University, so it’s all happened very quickly. Thanks so much to all the coaches who taught me to row at Birmingham and the coaches and my teammates at our national training centre in Caversham who have taught me so much in a short space of time. I’ve wanted to become a Paralympian for a while and I don’t think it’s sunk in yet
 it’s so massive!”

Frankie added: “This is a dream come true. We have done so much hard work to get to this point and I want to make the most of all the experiences from now until the Games. The pressure of the unbeaten legacy in this boat is a privilege that I’m hugely proud to be a part of.”

PR1 Men’s single sculls (PR1 M1x)

Benjamin Pritchard came fifth at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Since then, he has developed into a consistent medallist, winning two World Championship bronze medals across 2022 and 2023. Last month, at the final race before Paris 2024, Benjamin won his first career gold medal at the World Rowing Cup in Poznan, Poland. The PR1 men’s single is a hotly contested, highly competitive boat class, where Benjamin will be looking to improve on his Tokyo performance.

Benjamin said: “I feel more prepared for Paris than I was for Tokyo, particularly as I’ve had the full cycle to build more race experience and more speed. Obviously this is the closest thing to a home Games and it will be great to have so much support from friends and family out there. I want it to be a big party and celebration of the hard work that we’ve put in over the past eight years.”

PR3 Mixed double sculls (PR3 Mix2x)

Rowing for ParalympicsGB in this new boat class at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be Sam Murray and Annie Caddick. For Sam, this new event will see him fulfil a Paralympic aspiration that started at a talent identification event back in 2007 where he was first noted as a potential rower. Sam and Annie have rowed together since 2023 and were recently crowned European champions. They are excited to be making their Paralympic debuts in this inaugural event of the PR3 Mixed double sculls.

Sam said: “We’ve put so much work in and for me personally it’s been a long journey of being in and out of the squad for a number of years, so now to be selected for Paris, it’s very exciting. Part of the lure of coming back was to race in this new event and being so close to home is a bonus as so many people are coming out to support us.”

Annie said: “Each day it gets a bit closer and I get a little more excited and a little more nervous. Sam and I have built a great partnership and we are looking forward to being the first to represent Great Britain in this boat class. The competition is fierce and the standard is very close, so I think we’ll see some exciting racing!”

Paralympic Regatta Results and more

The ParalympicsGB crews racing at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games are:

PR3 Mixed coxed four (PR3 Mix4+)

Frankie Allen (Oxford Brookes University BC)
Josh O’Brien (Molesey BC)
Giedre Rakauskaite (Worcester RC)
Ed Fuller (Reading University BC/Nautilus RC)
Erin Kennedy (cox) (Leander Club)
Coach: Nicola Benavente 

PR3 Mixed double sculls (PR3 Mix2x)

Sam Murray (Molesey BC)
Annie Caddick (Molesey BC)
Coach: Nicola Benavente

PR2 Mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix2x)

Lauren Rowles (Birmingham RC)
Gregg Stevenson (Agecroft RC)
Coach: Nick Baker 

PR1 Men’s single sculls (PR1 M1x)

Benjamin Pritchard (City of Swansea RC)
Coach: Nick Baker

Paralympic Games rowing coaching staff, Team Management and Support staff

Tom Dyson: Team Leader
Nick Baker: Head Coach – Para Rowing
Nicola Benavente: High Performance Coach – Para Rowing
Will Stockton: Coaching Assistant
Pat Dunleavy: Physiotherapist
Maurice Hayes: Resources Manager
Louise Kingsley: Director of Performance and Deputy Team Leader
Shelley Wyatt: Communications and Media

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It was an impressive first international gold medal for Benjamin Pritchard in the PR1 Men’s single sculls (PR1 M1x). He got out to a flying start and held the lead throughout to take the win more than six seconds ahead of Italy and Australia. “I’m elated! It hasn’t sunk in yet but it feels very special
  and on Father’s Day too! There’s a bit of extra motivation with my wife and daughter at home, so this feels very cool.” Benjamin said, speaking after the race, “I was trying to stick to my race plan and not get too distracted about those around me. Compared to the preliminary race, where I got sucked into who I was racing, today was so much better. This race has given me some learnings that hopefully I can work on before the Paralympic Games.”

World and two-time European champions Gregg Stevenson and Lauren Rowles maintained their unbeaten run in the PR2 Mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix 2x), crossing the finish line over six seconds ahead of Germany. “We always go out to win,” Lauren said, “we won’t settle for anything less at this stage of our careers and after the winning streak that we’re having. Today we wanted to go out, work as hard as we could, get that marker down before Paris and see what work we have left to do. It’s nice to be out here as I’ve never won in Poland before, so I had some wrongs to put right! Today I wanted to go out there and leave Poznan with a gold medal.” Gregg added: “We’re expected to win now so there has been different pressure for me this season, but I enjoy that pressure. We’ve been on an intensive training block where we’ve worked really hard. When Lauren is the boss you’ve got to work hard! We enjoy racing with and for each other so it’s a really good combination.”

Frankie Allen, Giedre Rakauskaite, Morgan Fice-Noyes, Ed Fuller and cox Erin Kennedy also continued their unbeaten run in the PR3 Mixed coxed four (PR3 Mix4+). Erin said: “We’re trying stuff out at this competition, it was a real opportunity to learn. This is the last exposure to multi-lane racing before every crew goes behind closed doors and tries to find more speed before the summer, so this was the last chance to test things out and it was really fun.”

Ed added: “There were a lot of unknowns coming into this race. There were a lot of racing crews that we haven’t faced this year, so it was nice to know where we stand. Now everyone’s going to go away for a few months before the big one in September.”

It was silver for European Champions Sam Murray and Annie Caddick in the PR3 Mixed double sculls (PR3 Mix 2x). Finishing just over a length back from the Australian World champions, Annie said: “There’s quite a lot of emotions, so we’ll see when they sink in! I’m happy we’re in the mix. We’re two months out from the Games so I think we’re in a strong position. We worked well as a team today, our communication was good. We knew the field was going to go out hard so as long as we stuck with them we would have a chance.

Sam agreed, “We know how much we’ve moved on and the progress we’ve made throughout the winter, but you never know how much other people have moved on. We were really keen to come here and see where we are in the mix. We were alongside the Australians for a large portion of the race which we weren’t last season, so I’m pleased with that, and this result is really motivating as we come into the final months before the Games.”

The Men’s four (M4-) GBR1 crew confidently kept up with the pack to take home an outstanding senior medal that sealed the World Rowing Cup for this boat class. Dan Graham, Douwe de Graaf, Sam Bannister and Matt Rowe won bronze and collected the overall World Rowing Cup trophy for the event. Sam said: “To perform out here next to crews who are going to the Olympics when we’re the development crew for our nation is amazing.” Matt added: “We learnt a lot about international racing today. We like to think that we’re up and coming and we hope this won’t be the last time that we’re somewhere like this!”. Dan said: “We were level with the Swiss in the last 500m, but we were able to out-sprint them at the end and push up on the Australian Olympic champions which was really cool, it was epic.”

Tom Dyson, Team Leader for Great Britain at the World Rowing Cup had earlier collected the World Rowing Cup trophies for the Lightweight women’s double sculls (LW2x) and Men’s eight (M8+). Commenting on the team performance, he said: “We had some superb results from our Paralympic squad, a highlight of which was seeing Benjamin Pritchard win his first ever gold medal. They will soon be heading to camp to focus on their final preparations for Paris.

“In addition, it’s so encouraging to see this strong group of development athletes come out here and attack their opportunity to race at this World Cup, supported by a top quality team of coaching & support staff. With the men’s four making the podium and so many of them reaching the final, the pathway for the LA Games is looking promising.”

The Men’s double sculls (M2x) was a tight race with the GBR1 crew of Stephen Hughes and Cedol Dafydd missing the podium by less than a second to finish in fourth place ahead of the French Olympic champions.

The Women’s four (W4-) of Juliette Perry, Amelia Standing, Eleanor Brinkhoff and Martha Birtles finished in fifth place, accruing enough points to ensure they collected the World Rowing Cup trophy for that boat class.

The GBR2 Men’s pair (M2-) of Jake Wincomb and Louis Nares; the GBR2 Men’s four of James Vogel, Miles Beeson, Tom Ballinger and Jack Prior; George Bourne in the Men’s single sculls (M1x) and Scotland’s Jake Woods racing as GBR2 in the PR1 men’s single sculls (PR1 M1x) all finished fifth.

The GBR1 Women’s double sculls (W2x) crew of Jenny Bates and Freya Keto were sixth. The Men’s double sculls (M2x) GBR2 crew of Rory Harris and Tobias Schroder were second in the B final, placing eighth overall.

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Topping the medal table, Sunday saw four gold medals and a silver added to the four gold and bronze from Saturday. Highlights include a ‘clean sweep’ of golds across the men’s sweep boats, medals for all 10 Para rowing athletes, and gold for both the Women’s four and Women’s quad.

Louise Kingsley, Director of Performance at 91ÌÒÉ« said: “It’s been a great weekend and it’s promising to see us top the medal table once again. We are still learning and building through this season, but performances this weekend have put us in a good place as we look towards the Olympic and Paralympic Games later this year.”

Ollie Wynne-Griffith and Tom George were sublime in the Men’s pair (M2-) finishing the race to win their first championship title since they moved into the pair. “Obviously it’s nice.” Tom said: “It’s a good marker and a checking point. We talk about it all the time but the big one is the Olympics. It’s good to learn how to win and win in different ways and different conditions. Today was a good example of that. It’s amazing – we’re European Champions and that’s really cool.”

Credit: Benedict Tufnell / 91ÌÒÉ«

The Men’s four (M4-) of Oli Wilkes, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson took the gold despite windy conditions on the lake. Freddie said: “We’ve done quite a lot of stuff in some windy conditions in training camp so I think that helped us, but it’s obviously a different beast in six-lane racing versus just doing pieces on our own. I think it took quite a lot of commitment through the middle of the race to get ourselves back into it and lead it and to build our rhythm from there. We said after our heat we didn’t just want to sit or be satisfied, so we had a real focus of just doing our own piece and to be happy with where we were. I think that helped us during the long race because we had quite a simple plan. Obviously there’s still a bit to improve but it worked well for us.”

David added: “Obviously we want to get the win so we’re happy with that, because we’ve only had a week and a half to turn around and improve after falling short in Varese. There’s now three weeks until the next race and we can work on quite a lot of things in that time. There’s a lot of positives to take away, but we know there are a lot of really good crews to come in and the Italians are always going to be a force to be reckoned with. We worked hard and focused after World Cup I, if anything, having a slightly disappointing second place at the World Cup galvanised us into getting our eyes on the prize, sometimes you need a kick up the backside to do it.”

Credit: Benedict Tufnell / 91ÌÒÉ«

Another dominant crew were Lauren Rowles and Gregg Stevenson in the PR2 Mixed double sculls (PR2 Mix2x), winning back to back European titles. Gregg said: “This is my first double medal. We won the Europeans last year so to come here and do it again is pretty special. This is a springboard now, we’ve worked hard over the winter and we know what we have to do.

Lauren dedicated the win to her partner and five week old baby, “Five weeks ago my partner Jude gave birth to our son and so today was for Noah and Jude – I was thinking about our little boy in the last 500m. I was getting emotional being away from him so I definitely did it for them. To be out here and to be able to execute this is amazing. And to have Gregg supporting me through that – he’s trusted me the whole way and trust is a key part of this partnership.”

Credit: Benedict Tufnell / 91ÌÒÉ«

Frankie Allen, Josh O’Brien, Giedre Rakauskaite, Ed Fuller and cox Erin Kennedy continued the unbeaten run in the PR3 Mixed coxed four (PR3 Mix4+), dominating the race and finishing thirteen seconds ahead of France. Ed said: “It was our first race in this combination and the first race of the Paralympic cycle, so this crew is constantly learning and this race was another step in this journey. We’re racing three times this year including the Paralympic Games, so we’re going to keep building, keep progressing, keep our noses to the grindstone and keep pushing on for the one race that matters at the start of September which is the Paralympics.”

Credit: Benedict Tufnell / 91ÌÒÉ«

Newcomer Josh, making his international debut, added: “European champion sounds pretty good. It’s very exciting going out there for my first final today. We executed the race plan really well and I’m just so pleased. We had a big block of winter training at Caversham in pretty tough conditions, and we went out there today and executed our race plan brilliantly. It’s great.”

It was a solid silver for the Women’s eight (W8+) of Heidi Long, Rowan McKellar, Holly Dunford, Eve Stewart, Lauren Irwin, Emily Ford, Hattie Taylor, Annie Campbell-Orde, and cox Henry Fieldman. Eve said: “The race was good, we got off to a really good start and a good rhythm. It was disappointing that we couldn’t hold off the Romanians, but we’re learning every race and moving on. We’re in front of Italy in this race who pipped us at the end of the last race, so we’re happy with what we’ve done but hungry for more.”

George Bourne continued to build his experience in the Men’s single sculls (M1x) final, placing sixth. Rebecca Edwards and Chloe Brew were fifth in the Women’s pair (W2-). Earlier in the day, the Women’s and Men’s double sculls (M2x and W2x) B finals saw Becky Wilde and Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne finish seventh and Seb Devereux and John Collins finish ninth respectively.

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Gregg only joined the GB Para-Rowing Team in 2023 but won the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls with Lauren Rowles at the 2023 European Rowing Championships in his first international regatta.

They then became World champions just a year after forming the crew. Lauren tempted Gregg back to the sport he had previously left behind in 2018. When he returned he balanced training and competition with existing work commitments, studying for a master’s degree, and having two young children.

Gregg said of his spectacular year: “It was eight years of work before
 but it felt break-neck speed to me at points! Before I knew it I was sat on the start line at the European Championships, my first official race in GB colours. I was like: ‘How am I here?!’ It was pretty daunting. Everyone was laughing at me because I hardly slept the night before and looked like a zombie! I was so nervous. But I think it’s testament to that eight years of hard training that built up to it.”

His nominator said: “His personality and attitude towards training are infectious and I think he has been a breath of fresh air.”

But Gregg’s remarkable story goes back much further than 2022. A former Royal Engineer, he lost both legs in an IED (improvised explosive device) blast in Afghanistan in 2009.

He learned to walk with prosthetics, but three years later was discharged from the military as he struggled to adjust to life. Gregg openly discusses his difficulty during that period, but managed to overcome it through a mixture of exercise and work. He became a qualified mental health practitioner and came close to making GB’s para-rowing team for the 2016 Paralympics.

Gregg retired from rowing around 2018 but sustained his fitness and competitive drive, allowing him to get back on the water swiftly and successfully in summer 2022. Within months he was named on the World Class Programme, and by September had become European champion, World champion, and received a distinction for his degree.

Watch Gregg’s journey here:

2023 was a year to be proud of for wider elite British sport too, with athletes excelling in and out of competition, breaking new records, overcoming personal adversity, and using their positions to better the sporting world. Nominations were made not just for competitive success, but also for those athletes who supported or inspired others in elite sport throughout the year.

We’d therefore like to congratulate Gregg and paracyclist Fran Brown (the female Athletes’ Athlete of the Year) on winning this award, but also their fellow nominees: Joe Clarke (canoeing), Emma Finucane (cycling), Jessica Gadirova (gymnastics), Chris Hunt Skelley (para-judo), Beth Potter (triathlon), Shah Rashid (wheelchair fencing), Lucy Renshall (judo), Matt Richards (swimming), Bradly Sinden (taekwondo) and Maisie Summers-Newton (para-swimming).

About the Athletes’ Athlete of the Year award and the British Elite Athletes Association (BEAA)

The Athletes’ Athlete of the Year award is voted for by BEAA members past and present, elite British athletes currently or formerly in receipt of World Class Programme funding. Roughly 1,100 current athletes were eligible to vote, with over 300 former athletes contacted.

Current and former athletes were able to nominate their longlist between November 29th-December 12th. These nominations were then shortlisted to 12 by BEAA CEO Anna Watkins OLY. Voting for the winners took place between 14 December 2023 and 4 January 2024.

As the representative body for elite British athletes across over 40 sports, the provides independent support, representation and community to its World Class Programme members.

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