Tom Aggar

Tom Aggar (born 24 May 1984) is a British rower who competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics.[1]

Tom Aggar

Medal record
Men's para rowing
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Single sculls
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Singles sculls
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2007 Munich Single sculls
Gold medal – first place 2009 Poznań Single sculls
Gold medal – first place 2010 Karapiro Single sculls
Gold medal – first place 2011 Bled Single sculls

Aggar went to the University of Warwick where he was a member of the rugby union 1st XV as well as the Saracens F.C. development squad.[2] In 2005, whilst out with a group of friends, he slipped and fell eight feet on to a concrete path. Thinking that he had headed home alone, his friends left. When he regained consciousness two hours later, Aggar phoned for an ambulance. In his fall, he had broken his back and suffered a spinal injury, resulting in paralysis of his legs.[2]

Rowing

Aggar took up rowing as part of the rehabilitation from his injury. He competed at the 2006 National Indoor Championships using a Functional electrical stimulation (FES) rowing machine, where electrical currents are used to activate nerves in parts of the body affected by paralysis. In 2007, at the World Rowing Championships in Munich, Aggar won the gold medal in the 1000 m men's single scull in 5 minutes 13.13 seconds. He beat two-time world champion Dominic Monypenny, of Australia by two seconds and set a new world record in the process.[2]

At the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China, rowing made its debut appearance at the Games. Aggar won the men's single sculls gold medal in a time of 5 minutes 22.09 seconds.[3] After the Games Aggar was one of the British Paralympic gold medal-winning athletes who were overlooked in the New Year's honours. All of Britain's gold medal winners at the 2008 Summer Olympics were honoured in some way.[4]

In 2009, he defended his World Championship title, winning by 16 seconds ahead of Ukraine's Andrii Kryvchun, in a new world record time of 4 minutes 51.48 seconds.[1][5] He extended his unbeaten run, winning his fourth successive title in international events, at the 2010 World Championships held at Lake Karapiro, near Cambridge, New Zealand.[6]

Personal life

Aggar and his wife Vicki, a former paralympic rower, have two sons and a daughter.

References
  1. "Tom Aggar Paralympic rower". The Guardian. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  2. Davies, Gareth A (5 September 2008). "Tom Aggar all set for his 2008 Paralympic rowing debut in Beijing". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  3. "Britons in historic rowing double". BBC Sport. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  4. Davies, Gareth A (1 January 2009). "Honours row over snub to 19 Paralympic gold medallists". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  5. "Tom Aggar blitzes to world gold in Poland". morethanthegames.com. 29 August 2009. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  6. Quarrell, Rachel (4 November 2010). "World Rowing Championships 2010: Tom Aggar claims Britain's first gold medal". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
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