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Benjamin Pritchard, the esteemed Paralympic champion from Great Britain, has once again made headlines by setting a world record on the opening day of the European Rowing Championships 2025 held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The 33-year-old Welsh rower, who previously clinched gold in the PR1 men's single sculls at the Paris Paralympics with a time of 9 minutes 3.84 seconds, surpassed his own achievement with an astonishing new world record of 8:47.88. This remarkable feat eclipsed the previous record of 8:50.38 set by Ukrainian rower Roman Polianskyi.

Pritchard attributed his stellar performance to a strategic 'performance reset' aimed at the LA 2028 Games cycle. He emphasized the importance of continuous improvement and rigorous training, stating, "We've got a mantra back at British Rowing, where once the 2024 season was done, it was back to zero. Yes, I'm the Paralympic champion, but this is a whole new cycle. You don't know what anyone else has done in the winter, you don't know what new athletes are coming through, so you have to keep up the training to keep moving on."

Despite juggling multiple roles as an athlete, a professional in the city, and a father, Pritchard's dedication to his sport remains unwavering. He shared, "I still feel like I'm early in my season preparations, but to go out there and get that world best time, it shows that the hard work that I'm doing - juggling being an athlete, trying to do some work in the city and also to be a dad - it shows that it's worth it."

In addition to Pritchard's record-breaking performance, Lauren Henry, the Olympic champion, also made waves by setting a British record in the women's single sculls. Henry, who secured gold in Paris last year as part of the quadruple sculls, recorded the third fastest time ever with a time of 7:09.76. The 23-year-old English rower expressed her excitement and determination, saying, "It's an exciting result for my first senior international single race. I'm so happy to execute my plan. I've been focused this year on coming in and making myself a better and hopefully a more competitive athlete."

Henry is set to compete in the semi-finals on Friday, with high expectations for her continued success in the championships.

Related Topics:

• Disability Sport
• Rowing