Aggar pulls off victory

Paul Carter

Paralympic rowing champion Tom Aggar showed his superiority over his rivals with an impressive win in the final of the Paralympic-class single scull at the World Championships in New Zealand.

For Londoner Aggar it was his third world gold to add to the Paralympic gold he won in 2008 and his two previous world championships wins since making his international debut in 2007.

“It feels fantastic”, said Aggar who led for almost all of the final to win by clear water in 5:19.36.

He said: “All the hard work in training and in the gym has paid off. I’ve really enjoyed the competition. I love rowing, I’m passionate about the sport”.

Aggar’s gold was followed by silver for the British mixed adaptive coxed four. Kate Jones, Ryan Chamberlain, James Roe and Kelsie Gibson, coxed by Rhiannon Jones, narrowly led the race until the dying 100m when the Canadians surged to take a narrow lead and then held on to cross the line in 3:36.53 to Britain’s 3:37.08.

Germany, last year’s world champions, were third.

“It was a good race but it was also a bit of a blur”, said Roe.

“We never led by more than a couple of feet and I couldn’t say we were com­fortable at any point”, said the cox after a close battle.

“I wasn’t sure where we had finished as we crossed the line”, said Kate Jones. “They were better than us on the day and it was a good race”.

Britain’s crew included 17 year-old Kelsie Gibson and amputee Ryan Chamberlain who both emerged into the sport as part of a ParalympicsGB talent identification and development scheme.

Earlier there was huge disappointment for reigning Paralympic champion Helene Raynsford who was withdrawn from the final by the GB rowing team doctor as she had developed a respiratory dysfunction on the morning of the event.