Participants learned about the layout of the site, boat handling, water safety and how rowing feels and works before ever stepping into a boat.
At first, some were disappointed not to get onto the Thames straight away, but by session two or three the benefits were clear as starting slowly meant that once on the water, participants felt calm, informed and ready.
Their progress was extraordinary!
A growing community of rowers with complex needs
What surprised us the most was how working in this space naturally attracted more people with complex and varied needs, far beyond our original plans.
People travelled long distances across London, and in some cases far beyond, simply because accessible rowing doesn’t exist elsewhere. That willingness to travel underlined the scale of unmet demand.
Our local partners at Action on Disability and sight loss charity, VICTA helped us understand the huge range of disabilities and access needs in our community.
That is why we chose to start by focusing on just one area of need – visual impairment and blindness – building specialist expertise before widening out.
And the appetite is growing.
What we learned: coach the person
Across the programme, one principle kept resurfacing: empathy and understanding go a long way. See beyond the disability. Coach for the individual, not for the sport.
We learned to ask different questions, to describe space differently, to adjust our language, to use one voice in busy environments and to understand what independence looks like for each person.
We also learned that accessible rowing isn’t just about equipment – it’s about culture, about slowing down, about listening and about co-creating the experience.
Building a sustainable accessible rowing pathway
We’re proud of what Row the Rhythm achieved, but this is only the beginning.
Our long-term goal is to build a permanent, specialist accessible pathway at FRBC and to fully integrate disabled rowers into our wider club community.
To make this sustainable we're:
- recruiting a disability advisory group to inform our programmes
- improving the accessibility of our site, including new crew room layouts and an accessible ramp to the foreshore
- co-creating future sessions with participants, ensuring their voices shape the programme
- working with VICTA, Love Rowing, Action on Disability and other local partners to reach people who've never had the chance to try rowing
- raising funds to support free-to-access programmes as well as offering self-funded opportunities.
Our vision is a sport where disabled people can learn, progress and row independently and where adaptive rowing blends seamlessly into our mainstream offer.
Looking ahead
This first year has shown us two powerful truths: there is a huge untapped demand for accessible rowing and that when you remove barriers, people thrive.
Participants told us the experience was “life-changing”, “freeing” and something they've never thought that they'd be able to do.
And for us, the learning has been just as transformative and rewarding.
We now know that accessible rowing is not a niche add-on – it is essential to creating a sport that truly belongs to everyone.
The river has room for all of us and at Fulham Reach Boat Club, we’re committed to making sure everyone who wants to row can find their place on the water.
