It’s been two years in the planning, but now the dream of four Pembrokeshire women is set to become a reality. At the start of next year, the quartet will aim to row 3,200 miles across the Atlantic in a 10-metre boat. They will be unsupported, carrying nearly 1,000 dehydrated meals, sophisticated communication equipment, a water desalination machine and a fridge.
The latter item is crucial - it's not to keep the team's extensive chocolate supplies from melting - because it will store vital medication for one of the rowers. For social worker Sophie Pierce, 32, from Johnston has the life-shortening condition cystic fibrosis. If she and her fellow rowers successfully complete their maritime challenge, she will have set a world record as the first cystic fibrosis patient to row the Atlantic.
And if the team make it to the finishing line in Antigua, there’s a second world record waiting to be claimed – 70-year-old Janine Williams from Neyland will be the oldest woman ever to make the crossing. Together with Polly Zipperlen, 50, from Llangwm and Miyah Periam, 24, from Milford Haven, they are Team Cruising Free. The Neyland Rowing Club quartet aiming for two world records at the end of a successful Atlantic crossing - Janine, Sophie, Miyah and Polly.
(Image: Team Cruising Free) All members of Neyland Rowing Club, their mission statement is “striving to showcase values that we believe in - hope, courage and tenacity - whilst raising substantial funds for our three chosen char.
