When Paralympic Rowing was included in the Games programme for the first time at Beijing 2008, Tom Aggar won the gold medal in just his second year of competitive rowing.

Going into the Games as the reigning world champion, Aggar overcame the challenge of Oleksandr Petrenko from the Ukraine to win the Single Sculls event with a time of 5:22.09.

In January 2010 he became the International Rowing Federation's first 'Adaptive Rower of the Year' in recognition of his achievements on the water. Aggar also won the Rowing World Championships in 2007, 2009 and 2010.