The initiative is designed to empower athletes to make a difference to society returns following success of pilot programme

The athletes, who come from from a diverse range of sports and backgrounds, will benefit from a six-month programme designed to empower them to use their platform as prominent sportspeople to make a difference to society while they are still competing.

Athletes from various Olympic and Paralympic sports, who are at differing stages of their competitive careers, will attend a series of workshops and mentoring sessions to learn how to use their voice and influence for the greater good.

Those taking part will hope to achieve the same levels of success as those enjoyed by the first cohort to complete a pilot version of the programme in 2022-23.

Every one of those participants said they now had greater confidence to make a difference on social issues, felt equipped with tools and resources to address social challenges, and believed their enhanced strengths would enable them to make a social impact.

Those outcomes align strongly with one of the key pillars of UK Sport’s current ten-year strategy, which is to Inspire Positive Change. UK Sport believes athletes can contribute in this way to a happier, prouder and more connected society.

The programme ensures that athletes develop as people as well as performers. They should move forward with a sense of autonomy as they use their platform to make an impact in a context that has meaning to them.

Imogen Grant, who was selected for the Powered by Purpose programme last year, said: “What I hadn’t realised is how isolated sports can be from each other. Talking to others who are equally passionate about sport and other causes opened my eyes to how much we all care, and how much we can all help each other achieve.”

The success of the first cohort to complete Powered by Purpose demonstrates how much social impact Olympic and Paralympic athletes can achieve, and adds to the value and viability of the investment made by the British public in elite sport in this country.

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As the International Rowing scene was fixed on the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland, GB Rowing’s Para team headed to France to compete at the second annual Para-Rowing Regatta to Paris.

The event took place at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, which will hold the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Rowing events. It was an opportunity for many of the squad to familiarise ourselves with the venue and surroundings, as well as an opportunity for some to return to international racing. The venue itself is slowly transforming with construction underway ahead of next year’s games. This gave us a sense of anticipation from what’s to come; and certainly, added some adrenaline when racing, knowing that this could be where we’re competing for Paralympic medals next year. The weather conditions over the weekend were variable, including humid heat over 34 degrees and thunderstorms on the Sunday.

Ellen Buttrick and Charlotte Coburn

The squad of six included Benjamin Pritchard returning in the PR1 M1x in his first race since winning the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships. Ellen Buttrick also returned to international racing in the PR3 Women’s Pair (PR3 W2-) for the first time since winning gold the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games. She was joined by international debutant Charlotte Coburn of Molesey BC, the duo having raced at Henley Women’s Regatta back in June.

Saturday’s line up gave the opportunity for a number of crews to compete in smaller boats, Gregg Stevenson lined up in the PR2 M1x following his dominating performances at the European Championships and World Cup II with Lauren Rowles. Lauren competed in the PR2 W1x and demonstrated her class and tenacity as double Paralympic Champion, winning in style and holding off crews from other divisions.

Charlotte and Ellen were up against a number of crews including a German Men’s pair and USA Mixed double, providing the opportunity to build momentum and experience as a crew as well as demonstrate their potential ahead of this year’s World Championships in Serbia.

As for me, I lined up in the PR3 men’s single sculls (PR3 M1x) against my French rival Antoine Jesel, bronze medallist at Tokyo 2020. It was a tight contest with Jesel winning the heat by 1½ lengths. The final was a hard-fought race in which I passed Jesel through the 1,250m mark and managed to hold on to a length lead to win the race. This was such a great racing opportunity before I return to the PR3 Mixed Double for the World Championships later this year.

Sunday’s racing gave the opportunity for Gregg Stevenson and Lauren Rowles to continue their dominance in the PR2 Mix2x winning their heat and final race and providing the platform to build upon over the remaining season.

Benjamin Pritchard also lined up in the PR1 M1x against a competitive field. Benjamin, making his season debut after being away from the team for a few months, delivered some well controlled performances winning two bronze medals across the weekend, that will set him up well for returning to full training after the regatta.

As we closed on a solid’s weekend of racing and individual performances, we left Paris hoping the next time we return will be for next year’s Paralympic games.

If we earn slots at the games I can’t wait to see the transformation of the venue in Paralympic year into a world stage for the top Paralympic rowers to race on. We now return to our training base in Caversham with more experience and a fire in the belly to keep pushing for improvements over the coming months.

The post Para-team triumph at 2024 Olympic and Paralympic venue appeared first on British Rowing.

Great Britain’s PR3 mixed coxed four, which won gold at the 2018 World Rowing Championships, has been shortlisted as one of the Para-rowing crews of the year at the World Rowing Awards.

The crew, formed of Ellen Buttrick, Grace Clough, Ollie Stanhope, Daniel Brown and cox Erin Wysocki-Jones, took an impressive win in Plovdiv in September, holding off a strong challenge from the USA to take GB’s eighth successive major championships gold in the event.

The GB athletes are up against France’s PR2 W1x winner Perle Bouge and dominant Dutch PR2 Mix2x duo Annika van der Meer and Corne de Koning for the award.

Clough, who has been part of the last five gold medal PR3 crews, said: “It’s fantastic to be nominated for this award to cap a challenging season. While it’s the five in the boat who are nominated, our achievements wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the fantastic support network we have in place at Caversham.

“Nick Baker, Ella Willott and chief coach Tom Dyson helped get us in a position to win in Plovdiv, as did the medical and physiotherapy staff who got us in the best possible shape at the end of a tough year.”

In a new category for 2018, the is nominated for the Sustainability Award for its work in reducing waste production and improving recycling opportunities.

Winners will be announced on 23 November at the dinner in Berlin.

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