Ocean Sheroes take on the Great Pacific Race
After 18 months of training and preparations, the time has finally arrived for Ocean Sheroes, a team of four ambitious women, to row across the Pacific Ocean.
Since its launch in 2014, only 22 teams have completed the Great Pacific Race, rowing 2,400nm from San Francisco to Hawaii, with only two four-person all females teams reaching the finish line. Bella Collins, Purusha Gordon, Mary Sutherland and Lily Lower are aiming to break the current female-four World Record of 50 days, 8 hours and 14 minutes, set in 2014.
OceanSheroes have had more than their fair share of pandemic hiccups! Gyms closures, access to on water training limited, three of the team having contracted Covid all made preparations for the Great Pacific Race even more challenging. The most recent curveball came with the team having to leave the UK two weeks ahead of schedule, due to US borders requiring the team to be outside of the UK prior to entry to the US for 14 days.
“We’ve left 2 weeks earlier than planned and that was a scramble, but the silver lining is we are here all together as a team. We are spending valuable and quality time together and really working on our team dynamics.”
Burning between 6,500-8,500 calories each day, and rowing two hours on, two hours off, 24/7, the team will experience both physical and mental challenges, including body sores, seasickness, extreme exhaustion and fatigue. Resilient Nutrition have been working alongside NatureDoc, to help the team best to prepare their internal systems pre row, how to ensure they have a balance of nutrient dense and digestible foods during the row and how they can support their bodies in their recovery post row.
“We have finalised our meal plan and ordered the last few bits of food. With a few dietary requirements on board including Lily the vegan, we wanted to also make sure we were fueling our bodies in the best way possible for the duration of the row. Without access to fresh food, we’re eating freeze dried meals and snack packs. We’ve created a plan which is as nutritionally rich and balanced as possible working within limitations of foods available.”
Ocean Sheroes hang their hat on a ‘three P’s philosophy’: positivity, people and planet.
“This campaign is about so much more than rowing an ocean, we’re here to build a network of change-makers to create a positive impact for people and planet. Together, as a community, we want to bring about change in daily behaviours and habits, however small, that collectively preserves our home – the world – for future generations.”
The team are looking to raise £60,000 for the Seabin Project. The Seabin v5 is a revolution in ocean cleaning technology, helping to create cleaner oceans with healthier marine life. The Seabin catches an estimated 1.5 tonnes of marine debris per year (depending on weather and debris volumes) including micro plastics down to 2 mm small, microfibres, fuel and oil. You can donate to the team here.
Fancy a challenge, and help raise money for the Seabin Project?
OceanSheroes, in partnership with Flexi-Hex, have launched their ‘270 challenge’ running from 26th May – 13th July. The challenge involves completing 270 miles and raising £270 for the Seabin Project in teams of four, over a period of 50 days.
Taking on an ocean row?
If you’re looking for more advice on how to fuel an ocean row, head over to www.resilientnutrition.com/oceanrowing and download our free nutrition guide.
You can also catch up on a recent IG Live with OceanSheroes and Resilient Nutrition CEO, Ali Macdonald, here.