Old Hazlegrovian Hoping to Break World Record with Rowing Crossing

Old Hazlegrovian, Alex Soskin, is aiming to be part of the four man team hoping to win the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge and break the world record whilst doing so in December, alongside raising money for two worthwhile charities.  

Harry Hearn, Alex Soskin, Ed Batchelor and Tom Phillips will be rowing 3,000
miles across the Atlantic.

The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge is an endurance race across one of the world’s most dangerous oceans, in what is dubbed ‘the world’s toughest row’. The race takes competitors more than 3,000 miles west from San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, to Nelson’s Dockyard English Harbour in Antigua & Barbuda.

The journey the team will be taking.

The annual race begins in early December with up to 30 team participating from around the world, bringing people together from all walks of life. Teams battle sleep deprivation, salt sores and physical extremes inflicted by the race including 20ft waves

Soskin will be rowing with close friends Harry Hearn, Ed Batchelor and Tom Phillips, rowing two hours on, two hours off in rotation. They will be rowing for MIND and the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation, an international NGO dedicated to serving the world’s oppressed and marginalised children. The aim is to raise significant funds which will be split evenly. With mental health more important than ever during the current lockdown, charities like MIND and the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation need vital extra support.

The crew are also looking for both corporate partners and sponsors to join them on their journey and donations. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.oardacity.com. To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/f/oardacity2020.

Training for the challenge is currently proving difficult with the current lockdown in place due to the Coronavirus, with no gym or rowing
machine. But, as their Instagram shows, the crew are making use of what they have including tractors, girlfriends instead of weights and wine bottles.

The world record they will be trying to break currently stands at 29 days and 15 hours. Throughout the challenge, each team will row in
excess of 1.5million oar strokes and each rower is expected to use 800 sheets of toilet paper during the crossing, with only a bucket to hand.
Each rower will need to consume ten litres of water per day as they burn in excess of 5,000 calories per day, each rower loses 12kg on average during the crossing. The teams are supported 24/7 by two landbasedduty officers with two safety yachts in support. In the 2013 race, one yacht travelled 9,000nm.

We wish Alex an his fellow teammates Harry, Ed and Tom huge luck in what is a monumental challenge.