Woman rows to 10 Guinness World Records in single Antarctica trip
An Austrian woman has broken 10 Guinness World Records in a row-ing expedition to Antarctica, attempting to retrace the steps of a 1915 voyage undertaken by Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew.
After clocking up 407 nautical miles on the open waters of Antarctica between January 11 and 17, Lisa Farthofer, 31, has earned the distinction as the first woman to row on the Southern Ocean and the first woman to row on Polar open waters — despite having to abandon her trip nearly halfway through.
Guinness World Records reported that the sailor and her team, which set off on a 1,500 km expedition aboard a rowing boat called Mrs Chippy, had to return due to illness and injury.
Yet, Farthofer and her multinational rower crew — Brian Krauskopf (US), Fiann Paul (Iceland), Jamie Douglas-Hamilton (UK), Mike Matson (US), and Stefan Ivanov (Bulgaria) — jointly earned a further eight Guinness World Record titles.
Fastest Polar row
Fastest row on the Southern Ocean
First human-powered expedition from the Antarctic
First human-powered expedition on the Scotia Sea
First human-powered expedition on the Southern Ocean (South to North) and southernmost start of a rowing expedition
Longest distance rowed on the Southern Ocean
"I saw some really amazing things," the rower told Guinness World Records. "It was rough and difficult at times but there were some astonishing moments like being in the middle of a pack of fin whales, and it also felt like there was always a pack of penguins with us."
