Lauren Rowles

Started: She began Para rowing in 2015. (britishrowing.org, 01 Sep 2015) Reason: She competed in wheelchair racing before switching to Para rowing in 2015. She was introduced to the sport after she was scouted by British Rowing during a visit to Stoke Mandeville hospital in England. "As soon as I got on that water, as soon as I took my first strokes I was like, 'This is it. This is what I want to do'. I'd found a new love and a new passion that I never had when wheelchair racing. Getting out on the water every day, leaving my chair on the side and going out for an hour being free of any disability I have. That is what I love about rowing." (britishrowing.org, 24 Feb 2020; YouTube channel, 25 Nov 2019) Ambition: To win a third Paralympic gold medal at the 2024 Games in Paris. (bigissue.com, 08 Mar 2024; gameplan-a.com, 02 Aug 2022) Awards: She won the Sports Personality of the Year Award at the 2023 PinkNews Awards. (thepinknews.com, 19 Oct 2023) She was named Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [MBE] in the 2017 New Year Honours list in recognition of her gold medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (paralympic.org, 31 Dec 2016) In 2016 she was named Paralympic Athlete of the Year by British Rowing. (motivational-speakers.co.uk, 01 Jan 2017) She was presented with the Disabled Sports Person of the Year Award at the 2014 Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sports Awards in England. (worcesterobserver.co.uk, 06 Nov 2014) She received the BBC Newcomer to Sports Award at the 2013 Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sports Awards in England. (redditchstandard.co.uk, 24 Jul 2014) She was named Newcomer of the Year at the 2013 West Midlands Community Sports Awards in England. (redditchstandard.co.uk, 24 Jul 2014) Additional Info: MENTAL HEALTH She became depressed and was put on suicide watch following the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, where she had won her second Paralympic gold medal. After attending therapy and starting to take medication to combat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], which had previously been undiagnosed, her anxiety began to subside and she was able to stop taking antidepressants. "I felt worse than I'd ever felt in my life. People were just not impressed by what I did anymore. I got consumed by going around, telling the story, and showing the medal. It can become quite confusing because you're almost retelling the trauma from your life for other people's enjoyment, in a way. I started realising that. I was going around talking about things that had been quite difficult in my life, the injuries and setbacks. I didn't think I'd emotionally processed it. [Taking the ADHD medication meant] my mind was cleared of a lot of stuff and when I came into training, I could just focus. Getting that diagnosis has been really powerful. It's been awesome to finally have someone say, 'You're not weird'." (telegraph.co.uk, 27 May 2022) NEW CREWMATE In 2022 she contacted British Para rower Gregg Stevenson to propose that they compete together in the PR2 mixed double sculls class in the lead-up to the 2024 Paralympic Games. Rowles is aiming for her third Paralympic title in Paris, having already won gold at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. "There's always some level of apprehension when you start racing with somebody new and a process of learning what makes them tick. It's been a really fun time with Gregg, he brings such energy and there's a level of resilience in him that I've never encountered in anyone else. He turns up to every session motivated and willing to learn in a way I've never seen in anyone I've trained with on this team and it motivates me to be better. I've got no questions about his ability to make the boat go faster than ever before." (britishrowing.org, 04 Jun 2024; blesma.org, 31 Jul 2023; burnleyexpress.net, 22 May 2023) RETIREMENT THOUGHTS She underwent three operations between the 2016 and 2020 Paralympic Games, and says she considered retiring from Para rowing after being diagnosed with compartment syndrome in 2018. She decided to undergo the necessary surgery and continue in the sport with a view to competing at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. "I really struggled over whether to put myself through it [surgery], not just from a sporting perspective but also from a personal perspective. I'm a young woman who cares about how I look. I like to go out and dress up, do I want the scars this surgery will give me for the rest of my life? For what? Another injury could be around the corner. This was the make or break moment. The doctors had advised me that if I had any hopes of competing in Tokyo I had to have the surgery. They also told me it would likely be my last Paralympics. So at the age of 20 I was facing the fact that I had to have major surgery for a career that had a shelf life of just a few years. Despite all that, I knew the answer in my heart. How could I walk away from another shot at Paralympic gold? I went ahead with the operation." (laurenrowles.com, 17 Feb 2020; parasports.world, 09 Sep 2019)

Sporting Relatives: Her partner Jude Hamer represented Great Britain in wheelchair basketball at the Paralympic Games in 2012, 2016, and 2021. (SportsDeskOnline, 05 Dec 2023; Instagram profile, 05 Jul 2023)