Roz Savage



Ex-Banker Sets Herself Atlantic Solo Rowing Challenge
June 29, 2005	By Dave Higgens, PA
A 37-year-old former banker and management consultant today announced she was hoping to raise thousands of pounds for The Prince’s Trust by rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Oxford graduate Roz Savage said she is setting off on the 3,000 mile east to west adventure in a 23ft hi-tech boat later this year and hopes to raise £30,000 for the trust. Ms Savage said: “I am a great admirer of the positive work The Prince’s Trust does with disadvantaged young people. “The Trust supports those who have the initiative but not the financial resources or opportunities to take on a challenge and get their lives working. “I’m facing my own challenge – and rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic is a big one. “But when you take on a challenge on this scale, daunting though it may seem, you find you’re capable of more than you ever dreamed possible.” Ms Savage, who is divorced, said she was a late convert to adventure, giving a up a good career as first a management consultant and then a merchant banker at the age of 34. She was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 2003 and took part in an Anglo-American expedition which discovered Inca ruins in the Andean cloudforests near Machu Picchu. Ms Savage then spent a further three months in Peru, travelling solo and researching her first book, Three Peaks in Peru. She said she had no interest in sport at all until she went to Oxford and started rowing to keep fit. Ms Savage said she is hoping to complete the east-west voyage, which has only been done four times before by a solo woman, in between 50 and 90 days. Divisional director for The Prince’s Trust Terry Ryall said: “The Prince’s Trust is delighted that Roz is going to be raising money through this amazing challenge and wish her the very best of luck. “The money she raises will enable us to support more young people to get their lives back on track.” Ms Savage is preparing for her challenge and also raising more funds for The Prince’s Trust at the Henley Royal Regatta, starting tomorrow with a sponsored 40-hour row.