MILAN, Italy - Scott Brown and Angela Madsen won adaptive gold in the double sculls race, while Dale Doornek finished third in the single sculls, on Saturday at the 2003 World Championships on the Idroscalo in Milan.
In the TA (trunk, arms) double sculls, Brown and Madsen, who won gold and silver medals, respectively, in the adaptive single sculls race at last year's world championships, came home with the gold medal. The duo finished the 1,000-meter course in a time of 4:21.72, more than two minutes and 20 seconds ahead of the boat from Italy.
In the A (arms only) single sculls event, Doornek finished third. Australia's Peter Taylor, who won the bronze medal in the adaptive single sculls event last year, won the race in a time of 3:05.86. Great Britain's Robert Holliday finished second, clocking a 3:27.62, while Doornek finished third in a 3:41.50.
In the LTAMx (legs, trunk, arms) four with coxswain, the U.S. crew of coxswain Lisa Boron, Aerial Gilbert, Jennifer Klapper, Dwayne Adams, and Jim Falls finished fourth. The crew finished the 1,000-meter course in a 4:02.97, 16.16 seconds behind the gold medal winners from Australia and only 0.57 seconds out of third place. The Netherlands won the silver medal, with Portugal finishing third.
This year marks the second year that adaptive events have been included at the world championships. These championships are an important step towards FISA's goal of having rowing included in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. To meet the eligibility criteria, there has to be a minimum of 24 countries from three continents competing in adaptive events at the world championships, with at least two adaptive world championships being held by 2004. Last year, 36 countries signed the Seville Adaptive Rowing Protocol which committed them to enter crews in adaptive events at the worlds by 2004.