A TRIO of rowers broke a world-record attempt in a 24-hour indoor challenge.
Windsor-based Team Excelsioar set a new world record on Sunday, March 13, becoming the female team to travel the greatest distance on an indoor rower in a whole day.
The trio features Rachel Smillie, Caroline Hague and Nicki Kelly.
They took on the attempt in Windsor Royal Shopping Centre, as part of their training for the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge 2023 when the women will row 3000 miles, unsupported across the Atlantic.
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The fundraiser will raise money for local charities Thames Hospice and The DASH Charity.
The original record, set by a team of 10 women in the USA in 2019, stood at 253,585 metres.
And team said to have smashed that record with three hours still to go of the challenge.
They finished at 10am on March 13, setting a new world record at 286,038 metres, which is roughly the distance from Windsor to Doncaster.
Rachel said: “We knew the challenge would be hard but the night shifts were tougher than we’d expected, maintaining record-breaking pace at 3am is no joke.
“We were really spurred on by the girls and women we spoke to throughout the day and by their interest in both our record attempt and our Atlantic campaign.
"Rowing the Atlantic is a huge physical and mental undertaking, and the team used the 24-hour row as part of their mental preparation.”
The team now needs to wait for confirmation of their challenge from Guinness World Records.
Caroline added: “We knew the 24-hour row would give us a little taste of what we’ll experience on the Atlantic – sleep deprivation, shift changes, and the monotony of a gruelling rowing routine.
“We also got a sense of what it’s like to try and pack in enough food to fuel our rowing shifts with each of us burning around 5000 calories during the challenge.”
The team met at Eton Excelsior Rowing Club where they all train and coach those new to the sport.
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Nicki said they learnt a lot from the challenge.
She said: “The 24-hour row wasn’t just great training, it also brought us closer as a team.
“It was a massive achievement for us to accomplish this together and to support each other through the tough night shifts.”
For the Atlantic crossing, the Windsor-based trio will depart from La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain in December 2023 and row to Nelson’s Dockyard, Antigua.
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