A 22-year-old woman has become the youngest person to row across an ocean solo, two months and ten days after setting sail.
Ohio-born extreme athlete Katie Spotz set off from Senegal in West Africa in early January and stepped off her 24-foot high-tech rowboat in Guyana earlier this week.
Two coast guard vessels and a private helicopter kept watch over Katie as she inched into the record books – becoming the youngest person ever to complete an ocean row from one mainland to another and the first American man or woman to do so.
“At first when I told my parents they did not want to hear about it but warmed to the idea after I took the training courses and secured sponsors,” Katie told reporters.
“On the trip, I had bruises, rashes and blisters that made rowing very uncomfortable but there was nothing too serious.”
Her epic journey raised enough money to provide clean drinking water for 2,000 people in Africa for life.
In 2008, Spotz became the first person to swim the entire 325 mile length of the Allegheny River, which runs between New York state and Pennsylvania.
Looking to sponsor an extreme athlete? Dan Martin is attempting to swim the Atlantic in 2010.
