BRIAN ROWLAND
Sport: Para Alpine Skiing
Event Category: Men’s Sitting
Classification: LW11
Age: 39 (40 on March 14)
Hometown: Merrickville
Residence: Merrickville
Local Club: Calabogie Peaks
Disability: Paralysis (motocross spinal cord injury)
Second Paralympics
Instagram: @brirowly
By Martin Cleary
On March 12, 2023, men’s para alpine sit-skier Brian Rowland experienced the most unbelievable moment.
At the age of 36, when most speed skiers, whether able-bodied or para, had retired from their daily battles with unforgiving mountains, the Merrickville, ON, athlete was celebrating his first World Cup medal.
In the Italian village of Sella Nevea, Rowland flew down the downhill course with controlled reckless abandon to earn the bronze medal in a time of 52.67 seconds. His best-ever international result arrived a day after he notched a personal-best sixth place in another downhill.
“It’s almost unbelievable,” he said in a Canadian Paralympic Committee news release about his medal. “It was super fast out there. It wasn’t pretty, but I just gave it my best and held on.
“People were cheering at the finish and when I saw my time, I was a couple of seconds faster than yesterday, so I knew I had a shot at a podium. It’s pretty awesome.”
That uplifting result came near the end of the first season after his first Paralympic Winter Games, which were held in Beijing. In his four races, he was 10th in the super-G and 12th in the giant slalom.
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While his inaugural World Cup medal was an indication of good things to come, it really wasn’t, with his next two seasons riddled by shoulder injuries, surgeries, recovery time and limited skiing.
“The last four years have been challenging,” Rowland summarized bluntly in a call with High Achievers during a break at a recent pre-Paralympic Games training camp in northern Italy.
But there is a happy ending as Rowland survived two years of health hardship to qualify this season for his second Paralympics, this time in Milano Cortina, Italy. And, as a bonus, he’ll celebrate his 40th birthday on March 14 with a quick day off between his giant slalom and slalom events.
The 2026 Milano Cortina Paralympic Winter Games officially open on Friday, but Rowland and his para alpine teammates are already testing the courses with official training runs. He was 12th in the first training run on Wednesday.
It’s all history now, but Rowland suffered back-to-back scapula injuries, which wiped out his 2023-24 season and seriously impacted his 2024-25 campaign.
At the 2023 Canadian para alpine ski championships, Rowland was training on a cold morning at Panorama, B.C., when one of his two outriggers caught a gate and flipped him backwards. When he landed, his right shoulder blade took all the impact and he broke his scapula.
Rowland, who suffered a spinal cord injury 11 years ago as a result of a motocross accident, zips down the hill in a sitting position with springs under his seat to absorb the bumps, a single ski underneath him and two outrigger poles for stability.
His paralysis didn’t allow him to use his arms to lift himself up, after his crash. He spent a week in a British Columbia hospital, two weeks at Ottawa’s Montfort Hospital and was a long-term patient at the Kemptville District Hospital, which is close to his home.
It was five weeks before he could weight-bear on his shoulder and move around. He missed the 2023-24 season because of a long recuperation period.
Back on skis almost a year later at Panorama, once again, Rowland came off a bump during a super-G training session, landed crooked, tried to stop hockey style, but he hit a gate and landed on his left shoulder. Instead of a full break, it was only a fracture.
He was out for two months, but was able to salvage part of the second half of last season.
“I knew the feeling (shoulder injury), but I was able to ski to the bottom,” Rowland explained. “I didn’t ski for two months, but I got back into it. I trained last February and got strong enough to race a few times.”
Instead of returning to the World Cup circuit, he competed in lower-level Europa Cup and FIS races in Switzerland and Austria. This helped Rowland build his confidence as he won medals in four of his six races.
Heading towards the 2026 Milano Cortina Paralympic Winter Games, Rowland has shown the potential for a top-10 result in one or all three of his races (downhill, super-G and giant slalom). He is in his seventh season with the national para alpine team.
Rowland’s best season on record has seen him record six top-10 results in his first seven races, including a fifth-place showing in downhill at Santa Caterina, Italy.
“I’ve been consistent with lots of top-10s,” he added. “I couldn’t be more excited, healthy and competitive. We’ll see how it goes against those guys.
“The season has been good. As a pro athlete, you always strive for more. I’m hungry to clean up the little mistakes and be quicker. It has been pretty good, but I’m not necessarily happy with the results. I feel I have what it takes against the others.”
Over the years, Rowland has benefitted from the presence of teammate Kurt Oatway of Calgary. Oatway, 42, is entering his third Paralympics and was the men’s sitting super-G gold medallist at the PyeongChang 2018 Games.
“I can’t say enough good things about Kurt,” Rowland said about his role model, who had nine podium finishes (three firsts) last season and four medals in six races this season, after missing the first half of the 2025-26 campaign.
“He has been very supportive, since I joined the team. I rely on his advice and wisdom. He speaks his mind and I pick up on what he says. He roots for me. It’s nice to have that support. He’s fearless and fast. I have a lot of respect for him. He is one of the best at what he does.”
During his two-year hiatus recovering from shoulder injuries, Rowland sometimes questioned what he was doing. But he always ended that internal discussion by saying this is who he is and what he’s best at in the moment.
“I’d like to go for a long time,” offered Rowland, who also is involved in surfing, mountain biking and jet skiing. “After my very bad injuries, I was sitting in the hospital wondering why am I doing what I am doing.
“But life is good and I like travelling the world to ski. This is how I make my living at the moment and I’m not giving it up. I love what I do. I have no timeline on how much longer to ski.”
But now it’s time for his second Paralympic Winter Games.
“It’s an honour to wear the maple leaf,” a confident Rowland said. “I’m very proud to be Canadian. I’m thrilled to make it this far.”
BRIAN ROWLAND COMPETITION SCHEDULE
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Ottawa at the Paralympics Newsletter
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Martin Cleary has written about amateur sports for over 52 years. A past Canadian sportswriter of the year and Ottawa Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement in Sport Media honouree, Martin retired from full-time work at the Ottawa Citizen in 2012, but continued to write a bi-weekly “High Achievers” column for the Citizen/Sun.
When the pandemic struck, Martin created the High Achievers “Stay-Safe Edition” to provide some positive news during tough times, via his Twitter account at first and now here at OttawaSportsPages.ca.
Martin can be reached by e-mail at martincleary51@gmail.com and on Twitter @martincleary.