Four Britons have set a new record for the fastest ocean crossing from San Francisco to Hawaii by an all-female rowing crew.
The foursome, known as “The Ocean Sheroes”, completed the 2,700-mile Great Pacific Race in 35 days, 14 hours and 23 minutes, beating the former record by two full weeks.
The record-setting team was comprised of Bella Collins, from Falmouth, Purusha Gordon, from Luckington, Wiltshire, Mary Sutherland from Portsmouth, and Lily Lower of Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex.
The team’s crossing also marks the first time that an all-British foursome completed the race.
On preparing for the crossing, Ms Sutherland said that they “spent a lot of time learning each other’s motivations, personal goals and personalities,” things she said were “important living in such close quarters and intense conditions”.
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“Throw in a general ‘get it done attitude’ and you have a recipe for great things,”
“These ladies didn’t disappoint,” she added.
The Great Pacific Race competition began in 2014, and only 60 people – 22 teams – had completed the journey between the mainland US and Hawaii prior to 2021 .
Ms Gordon said: “Whilst the certificate will hang on the wall, it’s the experience, stories and learnings that will continue to shape me for the better.”
The mother-of-two added: “I hope I can inspire other mums and women out there to be brave, say yes and believe they can too”.
In a statement on their Facebook, The Ocean Sheroes said: “The messages of support and the stories of how we have inspired others have reduced us to tears today.
“It has been the greatest of privileges to make this crossing, to challenge ourselves like never before, to live life truly in the here and now and to come away braver, stronger and believing that anything really is possible if you work hard and commit to seeing it through”
In addition to the great physical feat of crossing 2,700 miles of ocean, The Ocean Sheroes were also running a fundraising campaign for The Seabin Project, a charity that aims to provide practical and tangible solutions to reduce the plastics the oceans through the use of “Seabins” that collect waste from marina ports. The organisation also provides educational programs, collects data and conducts scientific research.
To date, the record-setting team has raised more than £24,000 through their GoFundMe campaign.
