Rowing across the Atlantic: the ultimate adventure looking to inspire

euronews (in English)

In Dubai, Toby Gregory and his teammates are training for their great adventure of rowing across the Atlantic. He tells us about his adventurous that also inspires young people.

Transcript

00:00 [upbeat music]

00:02 So I first became aware of ocean rowing

00:13 about 10 or 12 years ago,

00:14 and it appeared to me to be kind of like

00:16 the last great adventure on our planet.

00:19 I've done nothing like this ever before,

00:20 but at the same time I just couldn't let it go.

00:23 I met a adventurer and he said to me

00:26 that impossible dreams demand impossible work ethics.

00:29 And then I just put a line in the sand and I said,

00:31 okay, I'm going to row from off the coast of Africa

00:35 all the way across the Atlantic Ocean,

00:37 a distance of 5,000 kilometers.

00:39 Getting the right people is incredibly difficult

00:42 because it's a project with lots of pressures,

00:44 lots of fears.

00:45 You know, it's an arduous task,

00:47 not just physically, but mentally as well.

00:49 So actually from a training perspective, it's endless.

00:51 It's a full gambit of cardio, yoga, pilates,

00:54 weights, everything,

00:56 and then also from the mental side too.

00:58 We've all got families.

00:59 First day I told my mom and dad I was going to do it.

01:03 It was a stunned silence.

01:05 And particularly with my wife,

01:06 it's taken her six years to kind of accept the possibility

01:09 that I might be going in a boat the size of a car

01:12 across the Atlantic Ocean.

01:13 From the moment we set off,

01:15 we're pretty much on our own for the whole journey.

01:17 We'll have possibly no contact with any other boat

01:20 until we get to the other side.

01:22 And during that time, we'll row for two hours on,

01:25 two hours off, for 24 hours a day

01:27 for the full 50 days we think it will take us to cross.

01:30 You know, you're going to be very tired.

01:32 Mentally, you're going to be drained.

01:33 You're going to be emotional as well.

01:35 And so actually that's when the room

01:36 for error starts to creep in.

01:38 The teamwork and the cohesion is critical.

01:42 If you're in a storm and if there's a large wave

01:44 and it comes and washes you off the boat,

01:46 I'm going to have to rely

01:47 and they're going to have to rely on me 2000%.

01:50 Ultimately, we count on each other for our own lives.

01:54 So what's going to keep us going and why are we doing this?

01:57 It's now more than just my dream

01:59 to row across the Atlantic Ocean.

02:01 It's about inspiring the next generation.

02:03 It's about setting an example for my kids and for students.

02:06 Just an ordinary person taking on something

02:08 that a lot of people find quite extraordinary

02:11 and quite impossible, it's inspiring them.

02:13 You know, we've had to finance this project.

02:17 The lucky thing is I live in Dubai

02:19 and there are people here who are willing

02:21 to support this type of venture.

02:23 Aside from making it across for myself,

02:25 my family and our team, we've now got the students,

02:28 we've got the commercial partners.

02:30 You know, we carry with us the hopes

02:31 and dreams of the wider team.

02:33 So much work has gone into this project, hours and hours.

02:38 You know, it's everything we've been preparing for,

02:40 everything we've been training for,

02:42 is that moment when we set off

02:44 and I simply can't wait for it to arrive.

02:54 (upbeat music)

02:56 (upbeat music)

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