British woman completes solo row across Indian Ocean

by Kraig Becker on

Way back in March we wrote about Sarah Outen, the 24-year old British woman who set out from Fremantle, Australia in an attempt to row solo across the Indian Ocean. Shortly after that start, she ran into equipment trouble and had to be towed back to shore, but within days, she was back out on the water, and now, more than four months later, she has finished her quest, reaching Mauritius, off the coast of Africa, late yesterday.

Over the course of the past few months at sea, Sarah has endured all kinds of hardships, including nasty storms, winds that actually pushed her backwards, 30 foot waves, and days of solitude at the oars. In fact, after setting out from Australia, she literally went weeks before seeing another ship.

Sarah had hoped to set a new speed record in her solo crossing by reaching Mauritius in less than 107 days, but the inclement weather worked against her, preventing that achievement. She did become the youngest person to row solo across the Indian Ocean however, and the first woman to do so as well.

Sarah’s Blog has a link to photos of her arrival and promises more updates soon. But for now, she’s enjoying a much deserved rest and some time back on dry land.

British woman resumes trans-Pacific row

by Kraig Becker on

British ocean rower Roz Savage has set out on the second leg of her solo trans-Pacific row, launching from Hawaii Sunday evening on a 2620 mile journey that will end in Tuvalu in a few months time.

Last year, Roz became the first woman to row solo from California to Hawaii, setting out from San Francisco, in just 99 days, covering more than 2300 miles in the process. That was just the first of a three stage attempt to row the entire pacific, which will culminate next year with a final 2000 mile row from Tuvalu to Australia.

Roz is no stranger to long distance rowing. Back in 2005 she completed a solo row across the Atlantic as part of an annual race across that ocean. She spent 103 days aboard a 24-foot row boat, crossing 3000 miles of open water from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean.

In preparation for this second stage of her epic row, Roz and her team recently launched a revamped website that includes loads of information about Roz and her adventures, as well as her Twitter feed, which she’ll be updating from the ocean as she rows. Best of all, is the RozTracker, a GPS tracking system that will keep us all updated on her progress in the days ahead, including the number of miles she’s covered, days at sea, and total number of oar strokes.

Good luck Roz! See you in Tuvalu!

British Woman Attempts to Row Across the Indian Ocean

by Kraig Becker on

This past weekend British adventurer Sarah Outen dipped her oars into the water just off the shore of Fremantle, located in Western Australia, and set off to become the first woman to cross the Indian Ocean under her own power. All that stands between her, and her eventual destination in Mauritius, is 3100 miles of open water, including 30 foot waves, high winds, and treacherous currents. She’ll be passing through shark infested waters and dodging commercial shipping traffic along the way as well, in the hopes of setting a new speed record and claiming the crown as the youngest person to ever row across the Indiana Ocean.

On her official website, you’ll find more information about this intrepid traveler, and you’ll be able to track her progress all the way to Maurititus. Daily blog posts will give us insights into what she is dealing with out on the water, and her page on the route itself offers up handy training tips should you decide to make a long distance row of your own.

According to her home team, who are constantly tracking Sarah’s progress, she has had a bit of a rough start to the journey. High winds and choppy seas have already challenged her resolve, and she was dealing with a bout of sea sickness yesterday. Hopefully smoother conditions will return soon.

While Sarah is chasing those records I mentioned above, she’s also rowing for a cause. She’s dedicated her adventure to her dad, who passed away suddenly back in 2006, and she’s also working to raise awareness and funds for Arthritis Care, a charity very near and dear to her heart.

If everything goes according to plan, Sarah will reach her goal in less than 107 days, which is the current record. She’s now just over four days into the attempt.

Good luck Sarah!

Behind the Olympics: Sports you’ll regret you missed

by Jerry Guo on

With the Beijing Olympics in full swing, you’re probably getting more than your daily suggested dose of swimming (how about that from-behind finish in men’s 4×100 relay, eh?), gymnastics (bummer to that girl who twisted her ankle minutes before her event), basketball (China got schooled two days in a row), and beach volleyball (playing with the lenses out of your sunglasses is apparently the new fashion).

Yet if you’re just sticking to what NBC (or BBC or CBC) is feeding you, then you’re missing out on a whole lotta of the Games. To start, there’s 35 sports encompassing 53 disciplines (swimming and water polo are in the same sport, “aquatics”, but considered different disciplines) and some 400 events in these two weeks. Of course, I won’t try to argue that some of them are particularly exciting–handball anyone?

There are, however, several sports that make some pretty good watching–and will make you that mysterious sports connoisseur at the water cooler. My favorites:

  • Water polo–there’s some intense competition boiling over in this sport, culminating in the US’s domination over China this past weekend, 8-4. And right now, I’m watching a rerun of the women’s match between the US and China (keep in mind the US is the reigning world champ and this is the first year China has sport an Olympic team). Won’t ruin the down-to-the-wire finish, but you can find out the results here.
  • Boxing–some of the best match-ups around can be found here in Beijing. Alas, the Americans aren’t doing as well as they hoped, with two boxers already out after the first round. There are six more still in contention, though the most-anticipated boxer in these Games is the Russian middleweight Matvei Korobov
  • Rowing–my favorite sport in what has been traditionally the least exciting spectator sport (even my fellow rowers agree) is a must-watch this time around. The Americans in the men’s eight are the defending champs, but with the Chinese pouring money into their new program, and Germany, Canada, and Britain close on their heels, this race is completely up in the air.
  • Table tennis–OK, so ping pong is actually one of the most popular sports in the world, with at least 40 million regular players. But I can guarantee you won’t find it on NBC prime-time, namely because Americans, well, suck at it. But if you’re looking to see the real version of that Forrest Gump shot where the balls fly at 70-80-90 mph, this is it.

Connecticut Journal: Rowing for Yale (part 2 of 2)

by Jerry Guo on

Read part 1 of this story first.

A couple weeks later, with a little more confidence under our belt and a little more knowledge in our heads, we come back to the boathouse to race against some of the other freshmen. After a short motivational group meeting, the coach hands us over to the coxswain, who leads us to the “garage” where the racing shells are housed. Like a general surveying his regatta of warships, I try to absorb the sight of racks after racks of gleaming, slick long shells made of ultra-light, high-tech carbon polyurethane.

“Hands on,” Alfred commands us to grab onto the shell.

“Ready to lift … Ready! … Lift! Shoulders and walk it out.” Working in unison, the eight of us manage to move the unwieldy, shell down to the water. Without the cooperation of the entire team, this “ultra-light” shell would easily crush a single rower.

“Weigh-enough … Up and over heads … Ready! Lift! Roll to waists … Ready! Roll! And out and in together!”
The shell effortlessly slides into the river without even a splash and we nimbly strap in.

“All eight sit ready! … Ready! Row!”

I forget about the problem sets due tomorrow or the Yale Daily News article I have to write this weekend. The serene, gliding river becomes my world, stretching on forever. The sun casts a warm glow over the water.

Then boom! Our shell charges off the starting line as Alfred explodes in our ears.

“Give me three short strokes … half … full! Good, keep it there. Lengthen and stretch.”

1500 meters left. No time for stray thoughts. Instead, all I can concentrate on is the rough feeling of the oar rubbing against my calloused hands and the water splashing on me from the rower ahead. My legs already burn as I gasp for air between each measured stroke. The sweat pours from my face, blurring my sight as Alfred continues yelling. 1000 meters.

“Harder! We’re five strokes to six. And push with those legs … and push.” The eight oars slice the water at exactly the same instant. I begin to feel the rhythm, the splashing and roughness of the oar no longer on my mind.

Yes, this is what rowing was all about. We finally see the payoff to our grueling workouts on the tanks in the dungeons of the Payne Whitney Gym. Like one eight-legged beast, we ram through the water, each one of us rowing as part of the unit. Our bodies slide in synchrony, and all I hear above the din of the cries to push harder, row faster, is the grinding of eight oarlocks, which gives off an almost musical and most definitely even beat. Eight have become one.

500 meters. The final stretch, the sprint that would make or break us. At this point, our slow-twitch muscle fibers have been flooded with lactic acid buildup for several minutes. The same muscles that power some people through 26.4 miles now struggle to keep our blades driving through the molasses; the lactic acid has quickly depleted our blood sugar supply so our lung cells desperately crave oxygen.

With all the fancy hi-tech improvements like the aerodynamic racing shell and sliding seats, the race still remains about man versus man, pitting the collective strength and mental endurance of our boat against the others. We are indeed contemporary Vikings, waging a continuous battle against the limits of our own body and lactic acid build-up!

We have no strength left. Yet somehow from mysterious reserves, we force ourselves to push harder, row faster. My heart beats as fast as a hummingbird’s while my head pounds with blood. Just when I feel like collapsing from sheer exhaustion, we glide through the finish line, two boat lengths behind.

After docking, we jump out of the boat, elated at completing our first race. We gave it our all, and so we congratulated each other. The other freshmen came over, brimming with excitement at our performance and gushing about the successful season we will have. Like Yale in 1852, we lost by two boat lengths, but like the Vikings, the war was meant to be won another day.

Over the past century and even millennia, rowing surprisingly hasn’t changed; the races still came down to slow-twitch fibers and Viking aggression, and of course, we still despised Harvard Crew. I turn around to admire the sparkling sunset one last time and walk off to the locker room.