ROWING 3,000 miles across a vast ocean over 40 days is quite a challenge.
But 16-year-old Eoin Hartwright is not fazed by the sleep deprivation, strong ocean currents and the exhausting physical work he will face during the journey from the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean.
If successful, the teenager, who is taking on the gruelling challenge in a four-person team, will become the youngest rower to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
Eoin, from Appleford near Didcot, sets off on December 2 and hopes to complete the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge before his 17th birthday on January 17.
He said: “To be honest the record is not why I am doing it at all. But of course it would be amazing.
“At the end of the day I wanted a bigger challenge than you would normally get.”
The GCSE pupil, who attends the Oratory Boys School in Woodcote near Reading, was inspired to take on the challenge at the age of 11 after hearing a talk from rower Mick Dawson, who had rowed across the North Pacific.
Eoin is hoping to raise £200,000 to be split between Children In Need and Healing the Wounds, a charity that supports soldiers who have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
He said: “It is definitely going to be a challenge. There will be blood, sweat and tears. My main challenge will probably be sleep deprivation.”
The real training will begin after his GCSEs this summer, after which he will have to exercise for four to five hours a day.
During the challenge the rowers will row for two hours and then have two hours for sleeping, cooking or cleaning the boat, which is just eight metres long.
Eoin will be rowing with three team-mates from Wales after signing up for the challenge on a website. They are mum-of-four Heather Reese-Gaunt, 37, Karl Williams, 28, and Neil Williams.
Rachel Flanders, from Bolton, Lancashire, holds the record for the youngest rower across the Atlantic. She was 17 when she completed the feat in 2008.
- For more information on the team and the challenge, visit facebook.com/oarsomeadventures Sponsor the team by visiting virginmoneygiving.com/team/oarsomeadventures
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