Oliver Hicks

A D V E R T I S E R

Row record unlikely

JUNE 10 2005

А BRAVE rower who is battling to become the fastest oarsman to cross the Atlantic from west to east has said he is now unlikely to beat the record.

Oliver Hicks, from Thorpeness, is now 15 days into an epic journey that began in New York and will see him row 3;00б miles to Falmouth in Cornwall.

Weather conditions over the last couple of days have caused a few setbacks.

The 23-year-old rower faced rain all day last Friday and said the journey had become much tougher.

In his web diary, he admitted а new speed record looked unlikely due, to the stow progress so far.

Severe weather and exhaustion are not the only hazards in the trip, as Mr Hicks discovered on Saturday when he was tailed by а shark whose fin was larger than the cabin
itself.

The current record of rowing west to east across the Atlantic is 62 days.

While Mr Hick's says beating it is now unlikely, he e could still set records for the world's youngest rower tо cross the Atiantic west to east

Mr Hicks, who is being sponsored by Virgin Atlantic, wrote on the webslte on: Friday:
"Been, raining all day, made 15 miles today against the wind.

'Much harder physically and mentally rowing into а headwind.

"New speed record now looks unlikely due to slow progress so far."

Mr Hicks aims to raise more than 60,000GBP for charity Норе and Homes for Children and to further medical research into endurance sports and their effect on the human body.

Only 12 people have ever completed the west-east trip and less than 40 have rowed the Atlantic solo.

Mr Hicks will be living on dehydrated ready meals and will pull more than 7,000 strokes а day.