A Record-Breaking Row

Meet Team Ithaca, the fastest-ever female team to complete the GB Row Challenge

- JANEY SWANSON

On June 4, 2023, six women took their places in a 10-metre boat and began rowing down the River Thames towards the sea. And continued rowing until they'd circumnavigated Great Britain!

"I enjoy a challenge," Sandra Gates (48) says.

Sandra is one of the members of Team Ithaca, the all-female crew that took part in the latest GB Row Challenge, which is considered the world's toughest rowing challenge.

"I started rowing 10 years ago after an injury put an end to my marathon running. Rowing around Britain was always at the back of my mind. In 2022, I signed up for the 2023 GB Row Challenge and, with five other female rowers, formed Team Ithaca.

"We didn't know each other but after 200 hours of training on the boat, we quickly became friends as well as teammates," Sandra says. "However, nothing prepares you for the reality of rowing around Britain."

Team Ithaca's row around Britain began at London's Tower Bridge. It was not the smoothest start to the challenge, either.

As they were leaving the shelter of the Thames, the boat was hit by such a strong headwind that rowing into the open sea became impossible. They had to drop anchor.

"We spent our first five days sheltering by the Isle of Sheppey, waiting for the wind to change," Sandra says.

Once underway, the women rowed in two-hour shifts. "When off-shift during the day, I'd freshen-up with wet wipes, eat a proper meal and, as it was my job to operate the desalination machine, turn sea water into fresh water. At night, I'd sleep on one of the two mattresses - one squeezed into each end of the boat.