Maidenhead is home for the immediate future to Paralympic rowing superstar Tom Aggar.

The Londoner has taken the adaptive rowing world by storm after taking up the sport in 2006 following 12ft fall on to concrete which left the sports-mad university student with a broken back.

However, rather than retreat into himself, the  22-year-old Aggar, who had applied to be an officer in the Royal Marines, took up rowing to maintain his fitness.

He progressed  to such an extent that within two years he was  Paralympic and World champion in the ASM single scull boat class.

In addition, he was named in the 2010 World Adaptive Crew of the Year by the sport’s world governing body  FISA which said he had ‘set the standard in adaptive rowing’ and paid tribute to his unbeaten run at international level. 

In January 2010 he became the Inter -national Rowing Federation’s first ‘Adaptive Rower of the Year.

Aggar, however, is not resting on his laurels, having set his sights set on London 2012, and then Brazil beyond.

He said: “ I moved to Maidenhead after the Beijing Olympics and I really like the place.

“It’s close to London where I was born and close to my training facilities. I have no plans to move on.

“I probably want to go to Rio in 2016 so am happy to stay here.”

Looking to the more immediate future, Aggar said: “We had the World Championships in September and qualified the boat for London. Now it’s about keeping the training going until the spring.

“The trials take place in March/April  and selection is announced in June. Going for gold won’t be easy, but I set my standards high.”