Adaptive rowing is a category of rowing and racing for individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities. Basic techniques of adaptive rowing are the same as those for able-bodied rowers, with modifications made to equipment, coaching technique, and program structure.

In 1980, USRowing Executive Director Chris Blackwall founded the Philadelphia Rowing Program for the Disabled, a first of its kind club specifically for athletes with disabilities. It would be nearly 20 years before adaptive rowing was included in the World Rowing Championships, and 2008 before para-rowing was added to the Paralympic Games.

Today, adaptive rowing opportunities are skyrocketing across the United States and around the world.

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Read more about Paraympic rowing: “The new culture of Paralympic Rowing,” Rowing magazine
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