Sydney Rowing Club’s Ben Gibson will make his Australian Rowing Team debut in 2018 in the PR3 Mixed Coxed Four at the 2018 World Rowing Championships. Gibson got into para-rowing after sustaining a knee injury playing rugby union.He dislocated his knee whereby he tore all his ligaments and severed his Peroneal nerve on his right leg. This left him with a condition called common peroneal nerve palsy which is commonly referred to as Foot Drop, meaning he no longer has dorsiflexion in his right foot. The New South Welshman first got interested in exploring a Paralympic sport after watching the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and reading Kurt Fearnley’s biography ‘Pushing the Limits’. With a second surgery unable to fix his nerve, Gibson explored some sporting options and got in touch with Rowing Australia. Like team-mate Nikki Ayers, Gibson was invited to a #Train4Tokyo camp in February 2017 and got hooked on rowing. He subsequently got involved with Sydney Rowing Club who’ve been very supportive and in his words he’s ‘ripped in since!’.
Under the guidance of Jason Baker at SRC, Gibson rows both in Sydney and also on the Nepean River. His favourite song to listen to before a race is an unusual classic, ‘Take my breath away’ by Berlin.