Reigning world champion Tom Aggar won Great Britain's second gold medal in two races on Thursday, September 11 at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
His win in the Men's Single Sculls - Arms followed a victory in the race immediately before, the Women's Single Sculls - Arms, by compatriot Helene Raynsford.
In attempting to claim the gold medal, Aggar found himself in the unfamiliar position of having a determined rival on his stern for the entire journey, Ukraine's Oleksandr Petrenko.
Petrenko had a great regatta through the preliminary races and pushed Aggar all the way to claim silver a mere 3.94 seconds behind. Israel's Eli Nawi took the bronze.
It was a great victory for Aggar, who led the field from the start and opened up a slender 0.96 second lead through the 250 meter mark.
With Petrenko in hot pursuit, he was only able to increase his lead fractionally for the rest of the journey, but solid rowing through the middle and over the closing stages of the 1000m race saw him score a popular double for the Great Britain Paralympic Team.
China's Tan Yeteng finished fourth, Ron Harvey of the United States was fifth while Australia's Dominic Moneypenny finished sixth.
(BOCOG September 11, 2008)