Laurence Whiteley
Personal information
Born (1991-08-29) 29 August 1991
Scarborough
Height78 kg
Weight186 cm[1]
Sport
SportRowing
Disability classTAMix2x
Medal record
Men's para rowing
Representing  Great Britain
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
Silver medal – second place2015 AiguebeletteTA mixed double sculls

Laurence Whiteley MBE (born 29 August 1991) is a British parasport rower. He won gold with Lauren Rowles in the trunk-arms mixed double sculls (TAMix2x) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.[2]

Background

Whiteley, who is from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, attended Hurworth House School and Polam Hall School.[1] He competed in triathlons as a youth and was the British Triathlon regional champion for the 13–14 age group.[3] In 2006 at the age of 14 he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (a form of bone cancer) below his right knee,[4] and was given only a 30% chance of survival by doctors.[3] He had surgery to remove the tumour, during which his knee joint and part of his fibula were removed, and further surgery to replace the joint and insert titanium rods into his leg.[4] He also had chemotherapy over an 11-month period.[5] He learned to walk again after a year of physiotherapy.[3][5]

Career

After his recovery Whiteley initially competed as a swimmer, and was national junior champion at 50 m freestyle in the S10 classification.[3] He took up rowing in 2011 at the Tees Rowing Club, initially competing in the non-Paralympic trunk-arms men's single scull category.[6] Since 2014 he has trained with the national squad in Caversham, Berkshire.[7]

After searching for over two years for a suitable partner to compete with in Paralympic double sculls,[8] Whiteley teamed up with Lauren Rowles, a former wheelchair racer who had recently switched to rowing, in early 2015. Their first major championship together was the 2015 World Rowing Championships, where they won the silver medal in the TAMix2x trunk-arms mixed double sculls.[9] At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, they set a world record in the heats[10] and went on to win gold in the final.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Laurence Whiteley". GB Rowing. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Rio Paralympics 2016: Rachel Morris leads triple gold for GB's rowers". BBC Sport. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Bone cancer survivor dreams of Paralympic glory". Teesside Gazette. 25 September 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  4. 1 2 Pyrah, Lauren (12 February 2010). "Laurence Whiteley, 18, hoping to represent Great Britain". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Sports-mad Laurence battles back from cancer to play again". Young People of the Year. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Laurence Whiteley". Paralympics GB. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  7. ↑ Neal, Martin (11 September 2016). "Gold medal in Paralyampics for Laurence Whiteley of Tees Rowing Club". Teesside Gazette. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Relph delight as British boats dominate Paralympic rowing regatta". Eurosport. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Lauren Rowles". Paralympics GB. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  10. ↑ "Fast and fabulous: Paralympians hit their peak in Rio". International Paralympic Committee. 9 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016.
  11. ↑ "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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