A strong and highly talented Maltese contingent, coming from Siġġiewi Rowing Club (Daniela Borg, Justin John Camilleri, Leanne Xuereb Ungaro and Matthew Xuereb), University of Malta Rowing Club (Edward Grech) and Birgu Regatta Club (Clyde Cutajar) competed at BRIC 2025, held in the first weekend of December 2025 at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham returning home with seven medals, including five Gold, and three newly established World Records.
Siġġiewi’s PR2 Para rower Daniela Cachia obtained Gold in the PR2 Women’s 2000m and 1 minute sprint race whilst Siġġiewi Coach and athlete Leanne Xuereb Ungaro won Bronze in the Women’s Masters 1 min Super Sprint and achieved other top results in the 30–39 Masters Women category, placing 6th in the 2,000 metres with a time of 7:19.8, and 7th in the 500 metres in 1:38.2. Birgu Regatta rower Clyde Cutajar won a prestigious Bronze in the Men’s 30–39 Open 500m Sprint race with a finishing time of 1:20.5 and finished 10th in the Men’s Master Open 1min Super Sprint. University Rowing Club rower Edward Grech and Siġġiewi rower Matthew Xuereb also obtained very respectable results in all the races they took part in.
However, the star of the show was Siġġiewi Para rower Justin John Camilleri, a single-arm below-the-elbow amputee, produced an outstanding performance in the IAR3 Para Rowing Men’s Open category where he not only won all three races, but also managed to secure three new World Records in his age category. Justin finished the prestigious 2,000 metres race with an impressive finish time of 7:33.6 and managed to row 1,075 metres in the 4-minute event, and 330 metres in the 1-minute sprint. In doing so, he continues to underline his status among the world’s leading Para indoor rowers.
Malta Paralympic Committee, the national governing body for Para Sport in Malta, highlighted that these outstanding results represent a major milestone in the continued development of Para Rowing in Malta. “The excellent results achieved in Para Rowing are a clear testament to the athletes’ unwavering commitment, the extensive hours of structured training, and the consistently high standard of professional coaching by Para Rowing coaches Mark Schembri and Leanne Xuereb Ungaro and support provided by their club.” Para Rowing in Malta is being co-developed by the Malta Paralympic Committee and Siġġiewi Rowing Club and has experienced significant growth since 2022. Over this period, the number of active Para indoor rowing athletes has risen to more than 15, more than tripling participation levels recorded in 2022. Many of these athletes recently competed at the Malta National Indoor Rowing Championships, held in November 2025.
