Para Racing Development for BC Regattas

The Rowing BC Competition Review Taskforce has created a Short Term Recommendation Report (released April 2019). Included in this report is the recommendation to explore strategies to support the inclusion of para athletes in more regatta opportunities.

Rowing BC has worked to develop para events at regattas for many years, yet over that time participation by para-athletes has not significantly increased. One of Rowing BC’s Core Values is Inclusivity and we continually seek ways to increase competitive opportunities for para-athletes.

Multi-lane racing is an important part of the athlete development pathway. The para-athlete experience often times sees limited athlete pools regionally due to the para-classification process. Creating an exception for regattas to include a broader definition of para-athletes, and remove the concept of formal classification, would encourage more athletes to enter events, and contribute to better racing experiences for para-athletes.  

To support this development, Local Organizing Committees offering para-events may, if they wish, use the language below in the sanctioning process.

Exceptions to the Rules of Racing:

Replace the para-related components of the RCA Rules of Racing with FISA Appendix 18, “Para Rowing Competition Regulations”, with a further exception to Point 3 of those Regulations, Eligibility (Rule 19) in order that for this regatta any athletes may enter events as PR1, PR2 or PR3, even if they do not meet the FISA definition for these classifications, or if they have not yet been formally classified.