Rower sets sights on big adventure

It didn't matter to Jake Still that his rowing experience was entirely nonexistent. His mind was set on his next big adventure being a 3,000 mile crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, a challenge dubbed the World's Toughest Row.

- by Laura Reid

The 26-year-old's adventurous streak had blossomed with Scouting and Duke of Edinburgh expeditions in his youth - and as he came to the end of his physics degree, on a high after a trek to Everest Base Camp earlier in his university days, he was looking for a new goal to work towards.

"I didn't know rowing an ocean was an actual thing, I didn't know you could just go out and do that (until I stumbled across this challenge)," he says. "I know people cycle across the continent. That's equally demanding, but it's not as daunting, I guess, as the sea."

The World's Toughest Row brings together people from all walks of life, united by the same objective of crossing an ocean in a rowing boat. Those taking part will battle with sleep deprivation, salt sores and physical extremes as they navigate across the vast expanse of water, facing waves up to 20ft high and temperatures ranging from 10 degrees to well into the 30s.

"A lot of other people from different backgrounds have done this race so (not having rowing experience) wasn't something that deterred me," says Jake, who lives in Pudsey. His thinking, instead, was that he could learn.