| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 29 August 1991 Scarborough | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 78 kg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 186 cm [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | TAMix2x | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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]
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]
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]
Rowing at the 2008 Summer Paralympics was held in Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park from 9 September to 11 September. This was the first time that rowing was competed at the Paralympic Games.
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Rachel Morris is a British Paralympic sportswoman who has won Paralympic gold medals in both cycling and rowing. She took a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics as a handcyclist, and eight years later at Rio she won gold in the women's single sculls as a rower.
Gavin Bellis is an Australian Paralympic rower. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in rowing and with Kathryn Ross won gold medals at the 2013, 2014 and 2015 World Rowing Championships. He partnered Ross at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Erik Horrie is an Australian wheelchair basketball player and a five-time world champion rower. He was a member of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team. Switching to rowing in 2011, he made an immediate impact in the sport, first winning the NSW State Rowing Championships and then the National Rowing Championships in Adelaide. He has won silver medals at the 2012, 2016, 2020 Summer Paralympics and gold medals at the 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018 World Rowing Championships.
Katherine Sarah Copeland MBE is a retired British Olympic Gold Medal winning rower.
Rowing competitions at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London were held from 31 August to 2 September 2012, at Dorney Lake which, for the purposes of the Games venue, is officially termed Eton Dorney.
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Nicholas Beighton is a British paracanoeist and former British Army officer. Beighton took up rowing as part of the rehabilitation programme after losing his legs during active service. He competed in the mixed scull with partner Samantha Scowen at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. He subsequently switched to the paracanoe discipline and won the bronze medal in the Men's KL2 canoe sprint at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Rowing was added to the Summer Paralympic Games competition schedule at the 2008 Beijing Games. Australia has been represented since 2008 Games.
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Rowing competitions at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio were held from 9 to 11 September 2016, at Lagoa Stadium at the Games' Copacabana hub.
Jacqueline "Jacqui" Kapinowski is a two-time American Paralympian who competed in wheelchair curling at the 2010 Winter Paralympics and in rowing at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.
Lauren Rachel Catherine Rowles, 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.
Tees Rowing Club is a rowing club based on the River Tees in Northeast England. The club was founded in 1864.
Roman Polianskyi is a Ukrainian para-rower. He is the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics gold medalist in men's single sculls.
