Lauren Rowles
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| Born | 24 April 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 56 kg (123 lb)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Athletics (2012–14) Rowing (2015–present) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | T54 (athletics) PR2 (rowing) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]- ^ "Lauren Rowles". GB Rowing. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "New Year's Honours list 2017" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom. 30 December 2016. p. 82. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
- ^ a b c "Lauren is relishing Glasgow Games". Bromsgrove Standard. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ "Lauren Rowles shortlisted for West Midlands Community Sports Awards". BBC News. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Great Britain's Paralympic rowers celebrate Rio gold rush". BT Sport. Press Association. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ "King Ed's international rower Lauren Rowles wins her place on team GB in Rio 2016". King Edward VI College. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ "Paralympian Lauren Rowles wants to be the gay, disabled role model she never had". PinkNews. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "Team GB Paralympian came out after finding love with fellow champion". 24 August 2021.
- ^ "Lauren Rowles". British Rowing. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ "Lauren Rowles". Glasgow 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Lauren Rowles". Paralympics GB. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ "Relph delight as British boats dominate Paralympic rowing regatta". Eurosport. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "Fast and fabulous: Paralympians hit their peak in Rio". International Paralympic Committee. 9 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016.
- ^ "Rio Paralympics 2016: Rachel Morris leads triple gold for GB's rowers". BBC Sport. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- 1998 births
- Living people
- Alumni of Oxford Brookes University
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games competitors for England
- English female rowers
- English female wheelchair racers
- British female wheelchair racers
- English lesbian sportswomen
- English people with disabilities
- LGBTQ rowers
- Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain
- Paralympic medalists in rowing
- Paralympic rowers for Great Britain
- People educated at King Edward VI College, Stourbridge
- People from Bromsgrove District
- People with paraplegia
- Rowers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
- Rowers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
- Rowers at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
- S13-classified para swimmers
- Sportspeople from the West Midlands (county)
- Sportspeople from Worcestershire
- Sportswomen with disabilities
- Track and field athletes with disabilities
- World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain
- 21st-century English sportswomen