Rowing the Atlantic is a pretty big deal.
To cross the 5000km of ocean between La Gomera and Antigua, we will row between us 24hrs a day for ~40 days, facing 50ft waves, sleep deprivation, and sea sickness, surviving on ration packs and hand-pumped desalinated water, pooping in a bucket and using more than 1.5 million oar strokes. Am I terrified? Very much yes 😆 Our row is not for profit - aside from the incredible stories I'm sure I'll have, the only thing we'll come away with is destroyed hands, wasted calves, and blisters on our bums. So why on earth am I doing it?!
Following on from the things I’ve done with 10Ironwomen towards balancing the gender inequalities, I'm very invested in the campaign for equality across sport. As an athlete I recognise my privilege in what I've achieved in the last few years ... I've got the facilities, the funds, the support around me; I've got the people I look up to and the inspiration to do things. I wish everyone could have the same opportunities I've had!
It makes me sad to know that more than half of girls stop playing sports by age 17 when I think about the wider benefits it brings. It’s not just the physical and mental health benefits; it’s the life skills and experiences that sport brings through teamwork / commitment / leadership etc. Young females drop out of sport at a rate 1.5x more than boys. This has been put down to fears of being judged / body image / lack of facilities.
So how does rowing an ocean address this? As cringey as it sounds, I really think seeing is believing. I say that from experience – it was after watching the 10IW finish their race that I decided to enter mine. Obviously we aren’t expecting everyone to decide to row the Atlantic, but we hope our campaign will be impactful in putting our message out and inspire more women and girls to discover or rediscover sport. We are rowing for the Women's Sport Trust who are "making women's sport visible, viable and unstoppable" - something that sings to all of us. We are also fundraising for the Teenage Cancer Trust and Endometriosis UK; two charities that are meaningful to our team.
Of course, being totally honest and transparent there are also personal / more selfish reasons for wanting to take this on. Primarily I had the question ‘what comes after Kona’ floating around in my head, and it seemed the stars aligned for me when this came up. Once Viki and Ana had put the idea in my mind, I contemplated not doing it and realised I couldn’t imagine saying no. I’m never one to miss an opportunity and this crazy thing is no different!!
I’ve got super strong and driven teammates with big ambitions. We want to ultimately win the race and we’re going to give it all we can to break the world record. We also have pending plans for a horrendously hard charity challenge that is quite frankly nothing short of ridiculous, but we’d love to scoop another world record in that. Soon to be announced…
This is going to push me deeper than I’ve ever been to places I’ve never seen (literally and metaphorically). Everything about it is terrifying; it is a giant leap into a world of unknowns and big fears, many miles out of the wavering walls of my comfort zone. But it is in doing the things that push me to and beyond my limits that makes me feel most alive.
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