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Para Rowing Foundation

@pararowingfoundation

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CREATING OPPORTUNITY AND ACCESSIBILITY IN #ROWING FOR THOSE WITH #DISABILITY.

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What happens when a Paralympic rowing champion, a global non-profit & visionary product designer, and a world-class film director come together at one of the UK’s most iconic rowing clubs?

Magic, innovation and inspiration!

At Marlow Rowing Club, Para Rowing Foundation welcomed Gregg Stevenson MBE, who travelled down-country to help us film a game-changing development in para rowing: a PRF-designed fixed-seat for both boat and erg. Built for high-performance. Priced for accessibility. Created so everyone can reach the highest levels of sport.

Why does it matter?

“…because accessibility shouldn’t be a luxury, talent exists everywhere, and the international playing field should be level.” – Steven Dowd, Executive Chair, PRF

This innovation unlocks opportunity, enabling under-resourced athletes to enter, excel, and stay in the sport. More grassroots athletes, more transformative stories and more lives changed through community, fitness, and para sport.

The inspiration didn’t stop with prototype tech though…

Gregg hopped into a double scull with a local 15-year-old PR2 athlete (same classification, same competitive spirit) and delivered a masterclass on the water. Watching the “old guard” coach the “new guard” was truly heart-warming. This is what PRF stands for: mentorship, community, investment, and the belief that greatness grows when it’s shared.

Huge thank you to:

✨ Gregg Stevenson MBE, for world-class energy, insight & leadership
✨ Benn Klewpatinond (Inond®), for design genius turning innovation into accessible reality
✨ James Fowler (Oskie Films), for capturing the story with beauty & purpose
✨ Bruce Lynn (Para Head Coach at the iconic Marlow RC) and volunteers, for making everyone so welcome

The future of para rowing is bright if it’s accessible and invested in.

JOIN US on this purpose-led product innovation adventure.

👉 www.ParaRowingFoundation.org

#ParaRowing #Inclusion #Accessibility #Innovation #LevelThePlayingField #Paralympics #MarlowRowingClub #Inond #OskieFilms #GreggStevenson #ParaRowingFoundation #everyBODYrowing taken in Marlow Rowing Club by @pararowingfoundation

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a year ago

ROW OF LIFE reached No. 1 on Apple TV. Now Para Rowing Foundation is bringing its global community together for a free live Q&A around the film.

ROW OF LIFE follows renowned ocean rower, Marine Corps veteran, three-time Paralympian and 14-time Guinness World Record holder Angela Madsen.

In 2020, Angela attempted to row solo and unassisted across the Pacific Ocean, from Los Angeles to Hawaii. The film follows her determination, resilience and immense courage to pursue the unknown, alongside the unyielding support of her wife, Deb, separated from her by a vast ocean.

Watch the film in advance, then join us live with:

Soraya Simi - filmmaker
Deb Madsen - Angela’s wife and a central voice in the film
Kathryn Ross PLY - Paralympian who raced against Angela at Beijing 2008, and PRF Board Member

Moderated by Steven Dowd, with audience questions.

6 October - 16:00 PDT / 19:00 EDT
7 October - 00:00 BST / 10:00 AEDT

The film is 82 minutes and costs $5 to rent.
The live Q&A is free and everyone is welcome.

Watch ROW OF LIFE: rowoflife.vhx.tv
Register free: pararowingfoundation.org

Watch the film. Join the conversation.

#RowOfLife #AngelaMadsen #ParaRowing #DocumentaryFilm A poster pictures a female solo rower in a TransOceanic boat. The poster reads Para Rowing Foundation presents a film by Soraya Simi, Row of life, live Q&A, and the various times of the free online event. by @pararowingfoundation

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a month ago

🚨 BREAKING
🎬 PRF’s short film Impact & Ambition (link in bio)

Access to sport shouldn’t depend on where you’re born, what you can afford, or what equipment happens to exist around you.

Right now, it does.

At Para Rowing Foundation, we see athletes with the talent and drive being held back by barriers. So we work across the full pathway, from entry to Paralympics, removing them.

Increasingly, that means solving problems at source.

“The lack of accessible, affordable, high-performance seating for fixed seat rowers is a genuine problem, particularly in under-resourced countries.”
– Steven Dowd, Executive Chair, Para Rowing Foundation

If the equipment isn’t there for all, the pathway isn’t there for all.

So PRF are building it.

Working directly with athletes, coaches, and partners, we’re developing fixed seat solutions that are accessible, affordable, and built for real use.

Not just to improve performance, but to level the field.

“We want to see the best competitor, and that shouldn’t be determined by where you come from.”
– Gregg Stevenson MBE, Paralympic Champion (PR2)

This is where impact meets ambition.

Get this right, and you don’t just support individuals, you change the sport for every body, everywhere.

If you’re already part of it, thank you.
If you see a role for yourself, let’s talk.

ParaRowingFoundation.org

Special thanks to Jim Fowler/Oskie for creation and donation of the film, and all who helped it happen, both in front of and behind the (many) cameras.

#ParaRowing #everyBODYrowing #InclusiveSport #Innovation #FixedSeatRowing by @pararowingfoundation

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5 months ago

Made the film. Lived the story. Raced against Angela.

Three perspectives come together for one global conversation:

Soraya Simi - Director of ROW OF LIFE
Deb Madsen - Angela’s wife and a central voice in the film
Kathryn Ross PLY - Paralympian, Para Rowing Foundation Board member and Angela’s competitor at Beijing 2008

Moderated by Steven Dowd, with audience questions.

No specialist rowing knowledge is needed. This is a conversation about courage, freedom, love, disability, ambition, risk and human possibility.

Watch the film, then join us live.

6 October - 16:00 PDT / 19:00 EDT
7 October - 00:00 BST / 10:00 AEDT

Register free: pararowingfoundation.org
Watch ROW OF LIFE: rowoflife.vhx.tv

#RowOfLife #AngelaMadsen #ParaRowing #LiveQandA by @pararowingfoundation

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13 days ago

One woman was alone on the Pacific.
Another was carrying the journey from home.

ROW OF LIFE is an adventure documentary, but at its heart is the relationship between Angela Madsen and her wife, Deb Madsen.

Separated by a vast ocean, Deb champions Angela’s dream from land while Angela pursues the unknown at sea.

On 6/7 October, Deb will join filmmaker Soraya Simi and Paralympian Kathryn Ross for a free live conversation about Angela, the film and the life behind the records.

Watch the film: rowoflife.vhx.tv
Register free: pararowingfoundation.org

#RowOfLife #AngelaMadsen #DocumentaryFilm #OceanRowing Angela and Deb are two white women with short hair. Deb wears sunglasses. Both smile broadly, directly at the camera. by @pararowingfoundation

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15 days ago

Fourteen Guinness World Records.
Three Paralympic Games.
A Paralympic bronze medal in shot put.
The first paraplegic woman to row solo across the Atlantic.

Those achievements tell us what Angela Madsen did. They do not tell us what freedom meant to her, what kept drawing her towards the unknown or how she changed what other people believed was possible.

That is the person at the centre of ROW OF LIFE 🎬 the acclaimed docufilm by Soraya Simi.

The film is 82 minutes and costs $5 to rent. Watch it before Para Rowing Foundation’s free global live Q&A on 6/7 October.

Watch: rowoflife.vhx.tv
Register free: pararowingfoundation.org

#RowOfLife #AngelaMadsen #ParaRowing #OceanRowing by @pararowingfoundation

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20 days ago

Speaker Announcement 📣

•Steven Dowd•
Executive Chair of Para Rowing Foundation. 🚣🏼

Steven will be joining us for our live chat - In On: Sports, Fitness & Health.

Innovation In Action by Inond
Mk Tech Week
16th October by @pararowingfoundation

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22 days ago

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a month ago

What a World Rowing Championships!

Huge congratulations to every athlete who raced in Amsterdam, and to the coaches, organisers and countless people behind the scenes who made it possible. 👏

World titles won and lost. Extraordinary racing across the programme.

In para specifically, 130 athletes across five boat classes delivered some of the season’s most exciting competition.

Eva Mol was just 0.32 seconds from bronze at halfway in the PR1 W1x.

Germany came through China with around 60 metres remaining to win the PR2 Mix2x.

The USA rowed through Great Britain to end a major-championship unbeaten run in the PR3 Mix4+ stretching back to 2010.

…and there was plenty more.

This wasn’t just inclusion in sport. It was great sport.

Six athletes PRF has supported at different points in their journeys raced in Amsterdam, representing four countries and winning four medals between them.

Perhaps the biggest thing to celebrate was the stage itself.

Para rowing wasn’t somewhere else. It was an integral part of the World Championships.

Same regatta. Same course. Same programme. Same world stage.

Give athletes what they need to compete at their best, give them an equal place on the world stage, and let the sport speak for itself.

#everyBODYrowing #ParaRowing

📸 @benedict_tufnell
Eva Mol competed for the Netherlands in the PR1 Women’s Single Sculls on home water.
She is also a PRF-supported athlete. Eva Mol is a powerful white female para rower with blonde hair tied up in a bun, wearing a bright white visor and a bright orange Dutch national team vest. We see her side-on and in mid competition, in full lean-back over her fixed seat and holding the oar handles into her chest. She is working hard, powering the boat through the water.
In the background, slightly out of focus, is a large orange and blue billboard with ‘World Rowing Championships’ written prominently in white text. taken in Bosbaan, Amsterdamse Bos by @pararowingfoundation

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a month ago

Tuning in for the @worldrowingofficial 2026 World Championships, but new to para rowing?

It’s one of the most exciting elements of our sport with fascinating stories behind each athlete.

Here are a few of the basics to keep you on course…

Keep @ParaRowingFoundation tagged in your Para posts, and let’s celebrate these incredible athletes together. 💪

#ParaRowing #everyBODYrowing taken in Bosbaan, Amsterdamse Bos by @pararowingfoundation

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2 months ago

“Sport is just the beginning.”

That simple phrase became the thread running through today’s Commonwealth Rowing Association Leadership Breakfast in Glasgow.

Para Rowing Foundation’s Chair, Steven Dowd, had this to say…

“It was a privilege to join fellow panellists Hector Zenaj, James Lamboll, Samantha Gough MBE and Sarah Cook OLY in discussing rowing’s future across the Commonwealth, expertly moderated by Dominic McGrory, and brought together through the vision and leadership of Kate O’Sullivan BEM, President of the Commonwealth Rowing Association. Thank you also to Annamarie Phelps CBE OLY, Vice President of World Rowing, whose thoughtful reflections and closing remarks perfectly captured the wider purpose of our sport.

A few messages from the panel and conversations in the room stayed with me:

• Rowing’s greatest impact is measured in the lives it changes and the legacy it leaves, not just in medals won.

• The biggest barrier to participation isn’t disability, geography or background. It’s opportunity. When we invest in access, equipment, coaching and pathways, talent follows.

• Innovation isn’t just about technology. Sometimes the greatest innovation is creating an environment where people don’t just feel included—they know they belong.

• The Commonwealth has a unique opportunity to lead. By sharing knowledge, developing inclusive programmes and working collaboratively, we can accelerate progress far beyond what any one nation or organisation could achieve alone.

• If rowing is to thrive, inclusion cannot be an afterthought. It has to be designed into everything we do, from grassroots participation to the elite levels of competition.

I left Glasgow optimistic because there was a genuine willingness in the room to think bigger about rowing’s role in society and the legacy we want our sport to leave.

After all, sport is just the beginning.”

#CommonwealthGames #Rowing #ParaRowing #Leadership

Thank you to Scottish Rowing for hosting us all at Team Scotland House. The gorgeous old Corinthian Club provided a wonderful setting for such an important conversation. Close up of a blue striped suit lapel with pins from para rowing foundation, commonwealth rowing association and rowing australia celebrating the Glasgow 2026 commonwealth games. by @pararowingfoundation

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2 months ago

This month we’re celebrating Disability Pride Month, proud to be part of a community that champions identity, achievement and visibility for disabled people everywhere.

#disabilitypridemonth #pararowing by @pararowingfoundation

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3 months ago