Two hours on, two hours off. For forty days. That’s what awaits Sam Weston, a 27-year-old software engineer living in London, on his upcoming row across the Atlantic Ocean. In a team of four, he’ll compete in the annual World’s Toughest Row, an epic endurance race that sees around 40 teams race across almost 3,000 miles of water.
Starting on December 12th 2024, his oceanic journey will venture from the Canary Islands to Antigua. Each team will pump out around 1.5 million oar strokes – burning over 5,000 calories daily – in temperatures ranging between 10°C and 30°C. Quite the challenge, even for Sam, a seasoned endurance athlete who’s already completed several events – from tackling the elevation of Mount Everest in Romanian ultramarathons to cycling races from London to Paris (four times).
“When I mention it to people, they all say that it sounds horrible, but I don’t think of it like that,” he says.
“I’ve done similar endurance events where I’ve experienced a lot of exercise over a sustained period, and I’ve really enjoyed that. But they’re all going to be nothing in comparison to rowing the Atlantic.”
20ft-high waves, sharks and colossal container ships: numerous hurdles await Sam and his team. At its deepest, the ocean plunges over five miles deep: a world away from the coastal Dorset waters he grew up sailing on with his Dad.
“Everyone finds it hard to measure waves. So when someone says a 20ft wave, I’m not quite sure what that means,” he says. “Being in big waves in a boat… yeah that is quite scary. But I’m pretty confident in the boat. These boats are unsinkable if you do the right things. So you can always just go inside the cabin and accept you’re going to have a bit of a crap time, but you’re not going to die.”
Instead, Sam’s more cautious about sleepless nights.
“I don’t really like it when I get six hours sleep or less,” he says. That’s typically in the context of his day-to-day life, in which he works around 60 hours a week running a street food seafood business alongside his full-time job in tech. “Although a lot of the stuff that I don’t like doing when sleep deprived usually requires hard thinking.”
But a five day training row simulating race conditions – also two hours on, two hours off – helped provide reassurance.
“By the end of it, you just adapt. [I realised] with rowing, you can be exhausted and maybe that’s fine. Maybe it’s actually quite fun.”
The row also revealed potential areas of improvement. By the end of the row, many of Sam’s muscles had tightened – particularly his core and lower back.
“Basically, I found a bunch of muscle groups that were more important than the ones that I’d been training,” he says. It also flagged the necessity of flexibility.
“I thought, ‘This is really going to suck if I’m not that flexible.’ When your muscles seize up it’s just horrible.”
Physical training has since shifted focus to stretching and building leg strength in the gym – and eating. Lots of eating.
“I’ve seen some people at the start line of these things looking like the Incredible Hulk. That’s not me,” he jokes.
Slim in stature, Sam has aimed to munch away at around 3,500 calories a day – approximately 1,000 more than the NHS guideline for the average male. Though these are distinctly unaverage circumstances.
Rowers can expect to lose 8kg during the expedition, which Sam and his team hope to complete in 40 days. That’s why, at sea, calorie intake will rocket to 5,500 calories daily.
“And 50% of that is basically Mars bars,” he says. The other half will mostly consist of dehydrated foods. Satiating this demand is Firepot, a dried expedition food company based in Sam’s home county, Dorset.
“It’s better than the stuff I cook at home! They make these really nice meals and then put them through a dehydration machine. Really nice, healthy cooking. A lot of chillis, a lot of stews. That sort of thing.”
Above all, the row demands sheer grit. Mental strength, rather than physical, will prove indispensable.
A key piece of advice he received was to train at “odd” times when you don’t want to train, like waking up in the middle of the night to do an hour on the rowing machine.
“I haven’t done that. I can’t really be bothered,” he confesses, laughing. “But I guess now I don’t let myself skip the gym, even if I don’t want to go.”
Relative to other sporting events, few people have successfully completed the continent-to-continent row, whether independently or as part of a team. Since the first crossing in 1896, 846 of the attempted 1,050 rows have been successful (an 81% success rate), according to the Ocean Rowing Society. That’s about the capacity of one full tube train on the London Underground.
Among these fellow ocean commuters is his crew, who include long-term friends, Daragh and Rex. Since school, they’ve supported Sam throughout life’s other adventures: their sustaining friendship gives Sam confidence. Daragh’s military experience is just a bonus.
“I feel like he’s somewhat battle tested,” says Sam.
And then there’s Ed. Having met at the University of Edinburgh, Sam has known Ed for the least amount of time.
“He’s a good guy. But I guess if I was to be worried about anyone I’d be worried about Ed... I’ve got no reason. I just know him less – he’s the weak point,” he jokes.
A safe, steady row demands unmistakable communication and implicit trust between teams. While Sam remains coolly nonchalant discussing the challenge, he admits he’s most scared about falling out with the people on his boat.
That’s despite the presence of marlin, a predatory fish with a long, sword-like nose known for striking boats.
“Every year, there’s about five marlin attacks. And it’s quite crazy. They go all the way through the hull and you see massive spikes throughout the hull,” he says.
But Sam and his team have already undergone basic training on how to repair the boat while at sea.
“It’s one of those things where it’s not mandatory to have the kit so I actually need to remind myself to buy it…” he says. “But you can do pretty simple stuff. Water pressure means you can get a big circular disc and the pressure will just make it stick to the hull.”
Past rowers have a reputation for getting creative. In January 2024, female trio Vibe the Wave used a champagne bottle to plug a hole created from a marlin attack.
Sam’s boat comes with oars, sliding seats and navigation equipment. At either end will be two cabins, both minimally equipped with roll mats and sleeping bags.
“It’s been interesting speaking to people who’ve done it and asking them what’s the best thing they’ve brought,” he says. “And everyone has a different answer.”
High up on the list were USB fans and suction cups – and for good reason.
“The doors being closed is integral to the fact that the boat can right itself when it flips over, as the boats basically barrel roll sometimes,” he says. “But one guy said it got to 50°C degrees in his cabin, so keeping cool is pretty essential.”
Suction cup handles have also helped veterans get in and out of the cabins more comfortably.
“At the moment we just head dive into the cabin as it’s quite small, but after a while it’s quite annoying and just grates on you,” says Sam.
“I think it just shows that day-to-day it’s very simple. You just get out and you row. But you’re tired. So it’s really the small trivial things that become the most important things.”
Sam’s busy narrowing his focus on his imminent row, unsure yet of endurance challenges beyond this horizon. But whether by foot, row or bike, it’s abundantly clear he’ll continue to throw himself into the deep end.
“I like doing hard physical things,” he says. “I just get a bit fidgety spending too much time sitting in the office.”
Kommentare werden vor der Veröffentlichung genehmigt.
