'The oars must never stop moving' says Bristol rower of Atlantic Ocean record bid

David Clensy - 

Since setting off in a tiny rowing boat with five other elite oarsmen more than a month ago, Jack Stonehouse has faced trials ranging from a close encounter with a 20,000-tonne ship to being hit in the face by flying fish.

When you are attempting to break the world record for rowing across the Atlantic, you can expect your share of adventure.

But it is the sheer physical exhaustion that comes from rowing for 12 hours a day, hands raw and bleeding, that has pushed the 21-year-old from Stoke Gifford to his limits.

With less than a week to go to the finish line at Barbados, Jack and the rest of Team Hallin, look on course to row their way into the world record books for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic under oars.

"The oars must never stop moving if we are to break the world record," Jack says.

"It has been much harder than I had envisaged. I never imagined how much pain we would go through.

"We started off very slowly because we were very heavy, but now we have eaten a lot of the food, we're going a lot faster.

"We row for two hours on and two hours off, that is 12 hours of rowing a day. We end up getting about six hour sleep if we're lucky.

"Then you have the unbelievable heat, which is around 35C to 40C."

The elite team of British rowers also includes Naomi Hoogesteger, from Wells – the only female member of the crew.

After more than 650 gruelling hours of continuous rowing, Team Hallin have the end of their monumental challenge in sight.

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