Paralympic athlete Julian Bajada will be attempting to row 28 kilometres non-stop on an indoor rowing machine to raise €28,000 to kickstart a national paralympic rowing program. 

He is expecting to cover the distance, equivalent to that between Mellieħa and Sliema, in three hours. The challenge will take place on June 28. 

The challenge is not an easy one for anyone with two hands... but Bajada will be attempting it with one.

“While rowing non-stop will be both a physical and mental challenge, I shall be attempting it to raise more awareness on parasports and inspire potential athletes to take up a sport,” Bajada, who is a lawyer, told Times of Malta. 

He will be the first Maltese paralympic athlete to row this distance non-stop.

Bajada was born with a severe form of femoral fibular ulnar syndrome, a rare condition that affected both his legs and arms. He spent most of his childhood in and out of hospital in the UK, undergoing numerous operations. 

But instead of letting his physical disabilities hinder him, his strong passion for sports inspired him to push forward and motivate others along the way. 

Bajada is secretary-general of the Malta Paralympic Committee. Last year, he led Team Malta in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

Why rowing?

Bajada said that, for the past three years, he had been wanting to take on a challenge to push himself and raise more awareness about paralympic sports. 

"This year I decided to challenge myself to row 28 kilometres for my 28th birthday," he said.

He started rowing when he was a Master's student in Cambridge and joined one of the college clubs. 

“In Malta, many people associate rowing with the regatta or indoor rowing machines. But rowing on an international level is so much vaster, and para-rowing is a large movement abroad,” he said.

Julian uses a strap on his short right arm to do the proper rowing motion. Photo: Bulletproof culture

The funds Bajada collects will be invested in paralympic rowing boats and towards the setting up of a fund to support a paralympic rowing development program, a first for Malta. 

There are currently seven para-athletes who are training with the Siġġiewi Rowing Club, the first Maltese rowing club with para-athletes within its ranks.

So far, the para-athletes can only train indoors but Bajada hopes the challenge will raise the funds needed for the right equipment to change this to be bought.

Intense training sessions

To row, Bajada attaches a strap to his short right arm to extend it so that he can do the full rowing motion.

He has undergone intense training for the past six months.

While during the first three months, he trained for an hour a day and also did sessions at the gym, training hours have now been decreased but the distance that has to be covered has increased.

"I now try to row 16 to 20km per session,” he said. 

'My main goal is to inspire others to take up a sports regardless of their disability,'  Julian says as he prepares for his challenge next month. Photo: Bulletproof Culture

“This is something I’ve never done before, but it is part of my journey... I hope I will inspire others to move and take up a sport, regardless of their disability.”

Donations, he said, have already started to roll in, with €18,000 being collected so far.

The fund's beneficiary will be the Malta Paralympic Committee, a non-profit registered voluntary organisation and a member of the International Paralympic Committee. 

Donations can be made here.