4 December 2015

All Ability Rowing Relay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Queen Street Mall, Brisbane

Thursday December 3rd, 2015

 

At 10 o’clock Thursday morning 3 rowing machines finally stopped spinning after 3 hours of relay rowing by disabled members of Sporting Wheelies, Vision Australia and LifeStream Australia.

This mornings relay row on the Queen Street Mall was held to coincide with the International Day of People with Disability showing the ABILITY of people and how capable they are living an active and healthy lifestyle.

 

Wade Ruffin of Urban Rowing in Brisbane conceived the idea after working with LifeStream Australia and Rowing Queensland’s Peter Hicks teaching intellectually impaired secondary students to row on the rowing machine and in Urban Rowing’s’ rowing tank.

8 weeks from the conception of the idea we had around 30 members from the partner organisations grinding up and down the rowing machines covering just over 38,000 meters on each rowing machine. They were ably supported by 14 celebrity sportspeople coming from the Brisbane Lions, Brisbane Women’s’ Roar Soccer team, Water Polo Olympians and our very own QAS and Australian rowers Jess Hall, Tessa Carty, Darcy Wruck and Maddy Edmunds. They really showed the audience an exemplary display of rowing power completing 10 x 1000m pieces at near maximum effort. Jaw dropping stuff.

 

The Minister for Disability Services Coralee O’Rourke and he State Minister for Greenslopes Joe Kelly also attended and rowed in the relay event.