THE vacant back seat of Kathryn Ross' mixed double scull has finally been filled.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After a prolonged search for a rowing partner the Beijing Paralympics silver medallist was introduced to Grant Bailey in February.
While the new pair is still finding rhythm with the oars, Ross said their campaign for the world championships in New Zealand later this year was well afloat.
"We gel quite well together and just seem to be going with what we've got," she said.
"At the moment we just get in the water and do as much as we can. Sometimes he gets excited and tries to row on his own.
"He has to learn to stay in time."
Ross' paralympics partner John Maclean retired soon after their medal-winning performance in 2008.
Since then the Warrnambool rower and her coach Pedro Albisser have been on the hunt for a replacement.
Bailey, 25, was poached from wheelchair basketball ranks.
"Grant is brand new to the sport so it's been a bit of a whirlwind for him but it's been going well so far," Ross said. "He is a lot quieter than John. Hopefully his happy-go-lucky nature can turn into a bit of mongrel when we compete."
The duo is preparing for the national selection trials in Sydney in two weeks.
They also have an assignment at the World Rowing Cup in Slovenia next month.
Ross said the cup would be a warm-up for the world championships in November.
"It will be good to see how the international field is looking," she said.
"We will be pushing pretty hard and hopefully we will be on target for the championships."
The 28-year-old said China was the biggest threat on the world stage.
But she said the cup would mostly be used to iron out partnership teething problems.
"China is the major threat, of course, but no one has seen them since Beijing," she said.
''We don't know if they're still on the scene .
"When we get back we will focus on what we need to work on and knit everything together."
Ross' path to the world championship podium has been paved by three medals at the Australian Rowing Championships in Nagambie last month.
She took out gold in her singles trunk and arms category for the fourth year in a row.
Ross also claimed a silver in the legs-trunk-arms (LTA) doubles with Julia Veness-Collins.
But her biggest achievement was collecting bronze in LTA singles, against more able-bodied women and in a boat 10 kilograms heavier than the craft her competitors were using.
Ross is training at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra after a move from her Penrith base late last year.
