Lauren Rowles
MBE
Personal information
Born (1998-04-24) 24 April 1998
Height172 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight56 kg (123 lb)[1]
Sport
SportAthletics (2012–14)
Rowing (2015–present)
Disability classT54 (athletics)
PR2 (rowing)
Medal record
Women's rowing
Representing  Great Britain
Summer Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place2016 Rio de JaneiroTA mixed double sculls
Gold medal – first place2020 TokyoPR2 mixed double sculls
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2019 OttensheimPR2 mixed double sculls
Gold medal – first place2023 BelgradePR2 mixed double sculls
Silver medal – second place2015 Aiguebelette-le-LacTA mixed double sculls
European Championships
Gold medal – first place2023 BledPR2 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 engaged to Jude, 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. 1 2 3 "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. 1 2 "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. 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. 1 2 "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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