“I Rowed Across The Atlantic”

Katie Pattison-Hart joined a double Guinness World Record Breaking attempt with the Row For Freedom team

My Challenge When Katie joined her friends for a barbecue at their house, little did she know that she would soon be agreeing to take on the biggest challenge she’s ever faced in her life – to row the Atlantic. Debbie, a woman visiting from the UK, told Katie how she was part of a five women team who planned to row the Atlantic and help raise awareness of child trafficking. Katie was full of admiration for the challenge and said how much she would like to do something like that. Within 24 hours, she had her chance as the women offered her a place in the Row For Freedom team. “I’ve always been up for a challenge, so I accepted straight away. I didn’t think about the fact I’d never done anything like this before,” says Katie.

My Training
While Katie worked out, she knew that she had to raise her game. Over the next six months she hit the gym with Dubai PT Shane Rutherford and the water with the Mina Seyahi Rowing Club. She would row between two to three days a week, and then do three training sessions in the gym to build her stamina levels. Katie swapped training notes with her fellow team mates by Skype, and Debbie flew to Dubai to do some water training sessions with her.

My Result
It was only when they arrived in the Canary Islands the enormity of what Katie was about to take on final sunk in. “This was the first time I felt nervous, but I wasn’t going to back out now,” she says. For the next 45 days, Katie and her team mates rowed 12 hours a day in shifts of two hours. The initial adrenalin was replaced by exhaustion as strong winds, the fear of being hit by flying fish and 40 foot high waves all lay between them and their final goal. They were bruised, blistered and tired, but Katie said that she knew she had to carry on: “The only way out was to row to the finish. We couldn’t get out of the boat, as we were surrounded by water.” But as they crossed the line in Barbados on 22 January 2012, all the challenges they had faced were worth it. Not only did the team raise Dhs500k for charity, but they broke two Guinness World Records too.

Katie has recently taken part in another record-breaking row – Row For Moe. This 24-hour rowing marathon helped raise funds for local cancer charities in memory of ex-Dubai Hurricanes rugby player Moe Khafaji, who passed away recently. Visit www.mycause.com.au/page/doeformoe and www.rowforfreedom.com to donate to these charities or for more information.