Para rowing words · Intermediate

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I · Intermediate · 21 words · Step 2 of 2

General terms

Appendix R14

The Para Rowing Competition Regulations: event regulations and departures from the Rules of Racing. The ordinary rules apply to para events except where R14 provides otherwise.

Classification

PR3 subclasses

The PR3 class covers physical impairment (PR3-PI, either eligible or not eligible for the PR3 Mix2x boat class) and visual impairment (PR3-B1, PR3-B2 and PR3-B3). A visually impaired rower must be classified by a VI Classification Panel before the event. The Not Eligible classes are NE-UHC, NE-EI and NE-MIC.

Also called: PR3-PI; PR3-B1; PR3-B2; PR3-B3

Minimum impairment criteria (para rowing)

Physical: a full loss of three fingers on one hand, or at least a trans-metatarsal amputation of the foot, or the loss of ten points on one limb or fifteen points across two limbs on the functional classification chart. Visual: a classification of B3 is the minimum, so B3, B2 and B1 rowers meet it. For the PR3 Mix2x boat class a physically impaired rower needs a loss of at least 20 points in one limb, and PR1 and PR2 rowers are eligible for that class.

First appearance and observation assessment (para rowing)

A rower first competes with a provisional sport class, and an in-competition on-water observation assessment is made in person at that first appearance. The panel may then allocate a sport class and status, or require earlier stages to be repeated. If the rower is found not eligible for the class, the President of the Jury excludes the rower from that event and the results are revised. Visually impaired rowers do not need to be observed in competition.

Sport class status (para rowing)

New (N): not yet evaluated by a World Rowing international panel, and the rower must be evaluated before competing at an international event. Review: at the next available opportunity (R-NAO) or with a fixed review date (R-FRD). Confirmed (C). A panel of one classifier, or with a classifier from the rower's own country, may only give Review status.

Not Eligible (para rowing)

The class for a rower with no eligible impairment or one that does not meet the minimum criteria. It does not mean the rower has no impairment. A second international panel confirms it before the rower loses the right to protest, and until then the rower may not compete.

Movement outside the sport class

At the Paralympic Games, qualification regattas, World Rowing Championships and World Cups, international classifiers may observe rowers in training and racing and are primarily responsible for deciding whether strapping or movement does not match the rower's sport class or records. The Chief Classifier may protest. Under the March 2025 text, a rower found moving outside the class is excluded from events of that class at that regatta and not ranked.

Classification protests (para rowing)

All rowers are subject to protests under Regulation 5 of Appendix R15, and the Chief Classifier may protest in the interests of fairness. If an appeal puts a rower in a more functional class, the results and prizes of that rower and crew, including those of the competition concerned, are cancelled and forfeited.

Boats and equipment

Stabilising pontoons

Floats attached to the riggers. The PR1 1x boat must have them, at least 60 cm from the centre line of the pontoon to the centre line of the boat. The PR2 1x boat may have them. The riggers must allow them to be fixed securely.

PR1 trunk strap

PR1 1x rowers must use a trunk strap, for safety only, secured to the seat back on both sides and going around the trunk. Extra straps are allowed. The seat and strap must let the lower back be seen from the side, and the back below the strap stays in contact with the seat at the catch. PR2 leg strapping is optional.

Sanction for missing equipment

A crew that raced without the required equipment or strapping, or with non-compliant equipment, is relegated to last place in that race and shown as REL. Several such crews are relegated with equal rank. If the crew does it again in a later round of the same event, it is excluded. Para rowers must row with the prescribed equipment on the water, in training, warm-up, cool-down and racing, from the opening of the course to the last race.

Boat weights (para rowing)

The minimum weights are PR1 1x 24 kg, PR2 1x 22 kg, PR2 2x 37 kg, PR3 2x 27 kg, PR3 2- 27 kg and PR3 4+ 51 kg. Weights include pontoons and strapping or seat pads firmly fastened to the boat. They do not include items not firmly fastened, or equipment that replaces a part of the body (a prosthesis) even if fixed to the boat.

Identification on strapping

Where PR1 chest strapping hides identification allowed on the racing shirt, that identification may be repeated on the strapping, but must not be visible on both the shirt and the strap at the same time.

Racing and officials

Entries and crew changes (para rowing)

A rower without a sport class, or whose class has been withdrawn, cannot compete internationally. Before the draw, a rower whose class is withdrawn or changed may be replaced by another eligible rower from the same club or federation. After the draw, the crew of a rower whose class is withdrawn or changed to make them ineligible cannot race again in that event.

Safety (para rowing)

PR1 and PR2 rowers need special safety procedures agreed by the organisers, Technical Delegate and President of the Jury, such as extra rescue boats, especially for PR1 1x, and care in weather that can cause extreme body temperatures. Traffic rules should separate fixed-seat para crews from other crews.

Starting a PR3 race

Because PR3 Mix4+, 2- and Mix2x events may include visually impaired rowers, the Starter says Red Flag at the moment of raising the red flag (or Red Light when lights are used). When the Starter gives a yellow card to such a crew, a member of the crew raises an arm to acknowledge it.

Objections and finish calls

A rower with strapped hands may object to the umpire, for interference or at the finish, by calling Objection clearly, and it is the rower's duty to make sure the umpire hears. In PR3 Mix4+, 2- and Mix2x events, the umpire says White Flag or Red Flag aloud when showing the flag.

Control Commission checks (para rowing)

Besides the usual checks, the commission checks that the pontoon area is accessible (for wheelchair users, guide dogs and carers), that boats match the Standard Para Rowing Design, that safety measures in the PR2 Mix2x, PR2 1x and PR1 1x boats, including the foot stretcher and strapping, are in place, and that pontoons are correctly fixed. Members of the Para Rowing Commission and international classifiers may help.

Umpiring a para race

The President of the Jury may require more than one umpire to follow a para race.

Programme

Paralympic boat classes (rowing)

The events at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games were the PR3 Mix4+, PR3 Mix2x, PR2 Mix2x, PR1 men's single sculls and PR1 women's single sculls. The programme for 2028 follows the IPC's decision.

World Rowing Championships para events

In the March 2025 Rule 26 table, the senior para events are PR1 M1x, PR1 W1x, PR2 Mix2x, PR3 Mix2x and PR3 Mix4+, and the under-23 para events are PR3 M1x and PR3 W1x. A 2026 training deck lists a wider set, adding PR2 M1x, PR2 W1x, PR3 M2- and PR3 W2-; the two are not reconciled here.

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