Over the Mayday Bank Holiday weekend, Lucy Bufton and Sarah Luxton from Devon took on the ultimate rowing challenge by taking on the world record for the longest continual tandem ergo row. The women set off at midnight on Friday and rowed 2 hours on, 2 hours off through till Monday midday, never allowing the flywheel to stop. Resulting in 60 hours of rowing, which eclipsed the previous records from their age group and overall of 24 and 50 hours respectively.
The inspiration for the challenge was the Virtual 725km Race Conquer the Cape organised by Dorset Indoor Rowing. ‘We wanted to not only set a new world record but we set out to be the fastest team to complete the long distance event.’ ‘On Sunday, there were a couple of competitors that on Sunday night had put in some seriously impressive distances, which kept us really pushing to cover as many metres as we could before midday on Monday.’ ‘When we finished, we still had just over 100km to go.’ ‘So, on Tuesday we pushed on to ensure we completed the remainder of the race with Lucy rowing throughout the day covering 70km and I got home from school and rowed a marathon. ‘We were not leaving anything to chance’
‘It was an incredibly tough challenge, physically and mentally and we couldn’t have achieved it had it not been for the support of family and friends from across Devon lending their support, which ranged from bringing porridge and cakes to joining us on the ergo at all hours of the day’ ‘It was so surreal on Monday, there were so many people that came down to celebrate our achievement we really were completely blown away’
Whilst taking on the world record, Sarah and Lucy have been raising money for the Devon Air Ambulance and have reached almost £2500 on their just giving page. If you would like to donate to this fantastic charity then please click on the link below.
Sarah Free is fundraising for Devon Air Ambulance Trust (justgiving.com)
Thank you Sarah Luxton for this information and photos.
No Comments on "World Record on an Ergo"