The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced that rowing became an official event of the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.
   
The sport was voted in during the first meeting of the IPC Governing Board which took place in Turin, Italy on April 9 and 10.
   
Rowing is the only new sport to have been voted in this weekend and joins the 19 established Paralympic sports.
  
IPC president Phil Craven said: "FISA is to be congratulated on the tremendous work it has undertaken to develop adapted rowing into the newest Paralympic sport. Now the stage is set in Beijing for Paralympic rowers to inspire and excite the world."
   
FISA president Denis Oswald said: "Rowing is very proud to be invited to take part in this fantastic event. Our adaptive rowers and their supporters have worked very hard to reach this important milestone in the development of the sport and now it will really move forward."
  
Up until now, Paralympics sports were mainly classified by disability rather than sport. Rowingis one of the first sports ferations to have fully integrated, as FISA calls it, "adaptive" rowing into its federation. Adaptive implies that the equipment is "adapted" to the athletes to practice the sport, rather than the sport being "adapted" to the athletes.
   
FISA introduced Adaptive rowing on a "world championship" level at its 2002 World Rowing Championships in Seville, Spain where 38 athletes competed in the single sculls and the coxed four.
   
The sport continued to develop since with four boat classes at the 2003 World Rowing Championships in Milan, Italy. Last year, at the 2004 World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships in Banyoles, Spain, 66 adaptive rowing athletes took part.  

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2005)