Youngest woman to row solo across an ocean

England’s Jasmine Harrison has made history by becoming the youngest woman to row solo across an ocean.

The 21-year-old from Thirsk, a landlocked market town in Yorkshire, England, set a world record as the youngest female to row solo across any ocean.

Her epic crossing began in Spain and ended 4,800km away in Antigua, one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region.

She took 70 days, three hours and 48 minutes to cross the Atlantic Ocean, finishing the 2020 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge on Saturday.

It was an eventful voyage. Tweets recorded some of the highlights: “A near collision with a drilling ship, two capsizes, lots of peanut butter and Nutella consumed, visits from dolphins and a world record.”

She had been inspired to row across the ocean when she saw the 2018 Atlantic Challenge race finish while teaching swimming in the Caribbean.

“It wasn’t just watching and holding the flares at Nelson’s Dockyard for the race finish that inspired me, it was also talking to a family member of a lad who had just completed the race who told me just how amazing it was,” she wrote.

Being in Antigua for the finish of that 2018 challenge sowed the seed for her own adventure in her mind, she wrote on her personal website, and while travelling through Europe a year later, she made her decision.

She thought, “Why not do it?”

“I could be the youngest solo female to ever row an ocean and try and inspire more young people, particularly girls to just give something amazing a go,” she wrote before she set off.

“The more it scares you the bigger the achievement. Anxiety is now such a common thing over some of the smallest of tasks, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared to do this knowing all the daunting obstacles that I will face, so I am asking support from everybody.

“I enjoy travelling by myself because I see so many rewards. If you want to do something,  now is the time; I’m seizing this opportunity to go solo!”