Kathryn Ross (born 25 June 1981) is an Australian Paralympic rower. She is a four-time world champion who has participated at four Paralympics from 2008 to 2020, winning a silver medal at the

2008 Beijing Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

. She set a world's best time in the PR2 1X event at the

2019 World Rowing Championships The 2019 World Rowing Championships were held in Ottensheim, Austria from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Apart from Ottensheim, the right to host the championships was contested by Hamburg in Germany, Račice (Litoměřice District), Račice in ...

Personal

Ross' leg became disfigured after her father accidentally ran over her with a ride-on

lawn mower A lawn mower (also known as a grass cutter or simply mower, also often spelled lawnmower) is a device utilizing one or more revolving blades (or a reel) to cut a lawn, grass surface to an even height. The height of the cut grass may be fixed by ...

on the family farm in

Warrnambool Warrnambool (; Eastern Maar, Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2021, 2021 census, Warrnambool had a populati ...

when she was two. Both her right knee and ankle joints are fused together. In 2021, she worked as a nurse in the

Canberra Hospital Canberra Hospital is a public hospital located in Garran, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. It is the largest district general hospital in the region with 672 beds catering to a population of about 550,000. It was formed when the Woden V ...

emergency department.

Rowing

She took up rowing in 2006 and won the female single category in the national championships in 2007. Her club rowing is from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

boat club. She was partnered with the winner of the male singles championship, John Maclean, and went on to win silver medals with him at the 2007 Munich World Rowing Championships and the

in the TA2x events. After Maclean's retirement, she partnered with Grant Bailey, winning a bronze medal with him at the 2010 New Zealand World Rowing Championships. When Maclean returned to the sport in 2011, she partnered with him to win a bronze medal at that year's World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia and two gold medals in the 2011 International Adaptive Regatta in Italy. Her partner at the

2012 London Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

was

Gavin Bellis Gavin Bellis (born 11 November 1973) is an Australian Paralympic rower. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in rowing and with Kathryn Ross won gold medals at the 2013, 2014 and 2015 World Rowing Championships. He partnered ...

. Bellis was slightly faster than Maclean at the Gavirate International Regatta in Italy in April 2012. She did not medal at the 2012 Games. At the

2013 World Rowing Championships The 2013 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 25 August to 1 September 2013 at Tangeum Lake, Chungju in South Korea. The annual week-long rowing (sport), rowing regatta was organized by International Row ...

Chungju Chungju () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. Uamsan is a mountain located within the outskirts of the city. The city is famous for the annual martial arts festival held in October. Al ...

, South Korea, she partnered with Bellis to win the gold medal in the Mixed Double Sculls TAMix2x. They were coached by Gordon Marcks. With Bellis, Ross won back to back gold medals by winning the Mixed Double Sculls TAMix2x at the

2014 World Rowing Championships The 2014 World Rowing Championships were the 44th edition of the World Rowing Championships and were held from 24 to 31 August 2014 at Bosbaan, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the second occasion on which the event had been held in Amsterdam, or ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. This victory was ranked #39 in the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

's list of moments of 2014. Ross and Bellis won their third consecutive Mixed Double Sculls TAMix2x title at the 2015 World Championships in Aiguebelette,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Ross and Bellis finished second in the Mixed Double Sculls TAMix2x B Final at the

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

. After a break Ross came back into the Australian senior squad in the PR2 W1x in 2019 in time for the

.Ross at World Rowing
/ref> At the 2019 World Championships in Linz, Austria Ross won a preliminary final and then blitzed the A-final to claim her fourth career World Championship title. At the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

, she rowed with Simon Albury. They finished first in the B Final of the Mixed Double Sculls PR2 Mix2x with a time of 8:56.69. She won a silver medal in the PR2 Single Sculls at the

2022 World Rowing Championships The 2022 World Rowing Championships were held from 18 to 25 September 2022 in Račice, Czech Republic. Medal summary Medal table Non-Olympic/Paralympic classes Men Women Pararowing Participating nations 63 countries participated in thi ...

Recognition

*2011 – Sport Achievement Award from the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

. *2013 – World Rowing Para-Crew of the Year with her partner

*2014 –

Rowing Australia Rowing Australia (RA) is the governing body for the sport of rowing in Australia. Established in 1925, it is the only organisation recognised by the Federation Internationale des Societies d’Aviron (FISA), the Australian Sports Commission ...

Female Athlete of the Year *2019 –

Para-Athlete of the Year *2019 – CBR Sports Awards - Para Athlete of the Year

Notes

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Kathryn Australian female rowers Paralympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Rowers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Australia World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in rowing Les Autres-category Paralympic competitors Sportspeople from Warrnambool Sportswomen from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportswomen 1981 births Living people