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Rowing is making its first appearance as a full Paralympic sport here in Beijing.
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Specially adapted rowing boats are used in paralympics. Boats for single events are equipped with a seat, which offers "postural support" to those individuals with compromised sitting balance. This ensures that the upper body is supported and kept in a fixed position. Smaller boats are equipped with buoyancy devices called pontoons. These act as stabilizers attached to the boats riggers, providing additional lateral balance. For the mixed coxed four event, the boats are not adapted, no more than two eyesight-disabled athletes are allowed to compete in one boat.
(CCTV September 11, 2008)
