FOUR ORDINARY WOMEN… ONE EPIC CHALLENGE
Gill Sherry
On 12th December, four Scottish women will embark on the challenge of their lives by taking on the World’s Toughest Row. Rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean, Andrena McShane-Kerr, Nicky Matthews, Fiona Deakin and Heather McCallum aim to become the first Scottish female-only team to complete the epic challenge.
I’m keen to hear all about it from Andrena, but I’m a little surprised by her opening declaration: “I had never rowed… but I heard about it and just thought, I would love to do that!”
That was four years ago and after missing out on the opportunity to join another team, she set about forming her own.
“I asked all my friends and family but no-one wanted to join me, they all thought I was crazy. A girl I worked with at the time told me her niece was ‘into weird things like that’ so she passed my details on to Heather. Nicky had tried to join that other team as well so she emailed me… and when we put a social media call out for a fourth rower, that’s when Fiona came in.”
Like Andrena, Heather had no rowing experience but both Nicky and Fiona were members of coastal rowing clubs and were able to introduce the two novices to skiff rowing.
“We were rowing with big, heavy, sweeping oars. But once we’d actually raised enough money to buy the boat, it was such a different feeling. You’ve got two very light carbon-fibre oars and sliding seats. It was a new thing for all of us.”
Their boat is the same boat used by the MacLean brothers when they became the fastest trio ever to row the Atlantic in 2020. I’m sure Andrena and her team will be hoping it’s just as lucky for them.
The World’s Toughest Row is an annual race and 35 teams are expected to take part this year, including their own, ‘Scotland the Wave’.
“It’s called a race,” Andrena confirms, “and there is always an army team who train to win… but for us it’s not about the race, it’s about the crossing and more than anything, the achievement of it all. Less than 400 women have ever done this. No team of four from Scotland has ever rowed an ocean, so it will be a Guinness World Record.”
It’s expected to take between 50 and 60 days to complete the row, depending on weather conditions with the women rowing two hours on, two hours off, 24/7. Aside from the obvious physical challenge, there are other factors to consider such as salt sores, sleep deprivation, sea sickness and endless rehydrated foods. Not forgetting the 40-foot waves.
“For me, it’s the mental side of it and being away from my family. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old and the thought of leaving her is insane. I get anxiety just thinking about it. My wife thinks I’m crazy but she’s very supportive.”
Hopefully, they’ll be able to communicate on Christmas Day.
“Historically it was very difficult with satellite phones, but this year they’re trialling Starlink, Elon Musk’s technology, which basically acts like you have WI-FI on the boat. We have to hope that we might get a video call on Christmas Day.”
With just themselves for company, a conversation with their families will no doubt be precious. After all, the row is unaided so they’re unlikely to see another soul for the entire duration of the challenge. But what if they need assistance?
“There’s a yacht in Antiqua and one in La Gomera, but if something goes wrong they’re probably two days away. There’s a doctor on the yachts so you can call, and we carry antibiotics and other precautionary medication. It’s the same if equipment fails, they can talk us through it. You have that kind of support, but no-one sees anyone. A couple of miles and you’re invisible.”
For now, though, it’s all about training and preparation.
“We’ve all been trying to do the physical training side of it, gym work and building up, and we’ve had to do 120-hours mandatory time on the boat as a team. We also have to do 24 hours in darkness which has to be on open water. We’ve done a bit of Loch Lomond training but that doesn’t count… and we’ve had to do all the drills like practicing how your para anchor works, drogues, navigation. We’ve had to do sea survival courses, ocean rowing courses, first aid at sea… they won’t let you go if you’ve not done the courses or had your medical and dental sign-off.”
When you embark on such a mammoth challenge, it’s clear it begins way before the actual event. The same can certainly be said of the fundraising.
“We’re still £5,000 short but as soon as we’ve raised that money for the campaign itself, anyone else who donates, that all goes to charity. And during the row, everything we get goes to charity. We’ve already arranged the sale of the boat post-row, so we’ll get another £25,000 from the sale next year and all that goes to the charities.”
The charities chosen – SiMBA, Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance, RNLI and Breast Cancer – are all personal to the team and Andrena hopes they will get a further boost once the challenge is complete in January/February next year.
“The One Show asked if they could do a documentary, so they’ve filmed us doing some training at Loch Lomond. They want us to take a video diary and record as much as we can on the GoPro. As soon as we get to Antigua we’ll send that back and they’re going to release it on the seven o’clock show. We’re hoping that will get a lot of donations in for the charities.”
The four women may come from all over Scotland (Andrena is from Glasgow, Heather from Dunoon, Nicky from Dundee and Fiona from Cromary on the Black Isle) but this challenge has certainly brought them together, not just physically, but emotionally too.
“We talk about this often. A lot of teams fall out afterwards… you have to poo beside each other! I’ve never done that in front of anyone in my life! But we’re like family now, we’re so close. We’ve had our ups and downs but we’ve always managed to come to a good compromise without any fall out or aggression. We’re all just very similar, chilled women and I think that’s why we get on so well. We appreciate and care for each other.”
They also appreciate their employers who, in three cases, have granted sabbaticals to allow the women to dedicate time to the challenge. In Fiona’s case, she’s had to set money aside as she will be forced to close her Bed and Breakfast business for the duration of the row.
“None of us come from money,” says Andrena, “we’re just four ordinary women.”
I disagree. I think all four of them are extraordinary.
If you would like to donate, you can do so at www.scotlandthewave.com.
“Now it’s really happening, it’s insane!”
