Tag Archives: Atlantic rowing

Sports

Row diaries: Departure Day (and how to follow me)

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As you read this, I am on my way to the airport to begin my journey to Portugal from where I will start my Atlantic rowing adventure.

I’ve been working on this for so long that I can barely remember what it was like without having this project in my head.

Today, I’ll meet my team for the first time. Over the next two months, we will be together every single moment, confirmed to a very small space, and working towards the same goal – rowing 6,000km across the Atlantic Ocean.

For two long years, I trained very hard. Now, all that I’ve learnt will be used to help me overcome this huge mental and physical challenge.

Here is how you can follow me:

  • Website www.crossrower.ch (or de.crossrower.ch in German) There will be regular visual and text updates on the site
  • Track me allows you to see where I am. You can find the tracker on the front page on my website. At the moment, it still has the track form the last row. Ours will be reset shortly
  • We’ll also have regular Facebook updates (usually a teaser that re-directs to my site)
  • Same for Instagram and to a lesser extent on Twitter, too

Donations can also be done from my website – there are three organizations: Hospice (Malta), the Swiss Cancer League, and Terre des hommes. I’m at around one-third of my goal. All the money sent goes to these organizations. The donations will help me, too, in terms of motivation to row faster.

Determination to succeed

My aim on the row is to follow in my brother’s footsteps. When he found out he had a brain tumor and that it was terminal, he said he would remain positive and fight it all the way. He did so. I hope I have his courage.

This entire adventure is dedicate to him for a good reason – he was a good altruistic person, a fighter with a heart of gold.

I will now face a big challenge, physically and mentally. It’s a big deal, but it is also one which I chose to do. Cancer patients and their families don’t have this choice.

That’s the whole point of this challenge – help the people who are doing their best to make things as comfortable as possible for cancer patients and their families. That’s what my brother would have done.

In two months and a bit, I’ll be back home. I can then return to my normal life. Many cancer patients and their families don’t have this option.

I am also collecting money for Terre des hommes. My chosen project is helping Syrian refugee children in Jordan. I chose to help this organization as I strongly believe children should have the right to enjoy their childhood. Any help you can give them is greatly appreciated.

Sports

Row diaries: Covid challenges with a week to go

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I really can’t believe it, but there’s just one week to go before I leave home for my Atlantic row.

Two and a half years ago, I started this journey with a mixture of curiosity and determination. Nothing has changed. Well, nearly nothing.

I’ve trained hard, very hard, completing eight million metres on my indoor rower, around 400km of on-water rowing, hundreds of kilometres of running, countless HIIT exercises, and a few more kilometres of cycling. And weight training – my favourite (sic).

Now, I’m in the taper phase, so I’m not doing more than an hour a day, maybe two. It’s a lot, but far less than the average of three hours I was doing every day, six days a week throughout 2020.

My body now needs a small break so I can get on our boat Rose fully fit and ready to go.

Covid has keep me very busy over the past weeks.

First, I had to cancel plans to fly to Malta as I would have had to quarantine for 10 days on my return to Switzerland.

Plans to fly to Portugal were also changed because of pandemic restrictions. We looked for options all round – Seville, Barcelona, Madrid, Porto – but none offered the certainty of getting there on time.

Now, the team will meet up in the Netherlands on Friday 19 February (four out of five of us, the other is sailing in to Portimao – how cool is that!). We will then leave on Saturday evening on a 2,500km road trip through five countries to Portugal.

That’s a lot to do before a 6,000km row, but it’s also fun and a great opportunity to get to know the others.

Our week-long prep week in Portugal will also be impossible to complete because of the restrictions. This means that after prepping the boat, we’ll probably leave immediately, weather permitting.

This means that we can leave as early as Wednesday 24 February. It also depends on the weather.

Probably the worst impact of Covid is that family can’t come down to see us off, and probably neither to welcome us on the other side. It’s unfortunate, but we’ll manage anyway.

Organizing and preparing for a row across the Atlantic is complicated in itself – doing it in the middle of a pandemic is something else.
 

Ever little bit helps

So far, we’ve managed to collect just under €3,000 for my Swiss charities (Swiss Cancer League and Terre des hommes), and around €2,500 for Hospice Malta.

I’m extremely grateful for the contributions people have made. For all three organizations, I’m still miles away from my target, so please donate or share my website address (www.crossrower.ch or de.crossrower.ch in German) with people. Every single cent goes directly to the organizations.

You don’t need to donate huge amounts – smoke less for a few days and donate €10.

Sports

Row diaries: Waking up, training, donations, and Covid

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Last weekend, I completed what was probably my last 24-hour training row before I leave on my epic journey. It’s just a month away now.

The training session itself was uneventful. Every time, these sessions get easier. Not easy, just easier than the time before. The only concern I had was that my legs, hamstrings to be exact, were in quite a bit of pain.

I think it has something to do with the HIIT (High intensity interval training) I’m doing, which is why I’ve stopped doing the latter.

Now it’s time for me to balance out my training with appropriate recovery to make sure my body is in the best possible condition for the row. I believe I’ve done what I had to do to get physically ready – more than 8 million metres of indoor rowing, another 500km of rowing on water, may kilometres of running, weights, and HIIT. For a 50-year-old, I guess it’s OK.

I have also started breathing exercises – it’s more to do with my mental health during the crossing. The exercises help reboot the brain in times of difficulty (or so they say).

Back to my 24-hour row training – one thing I realised (you have ample time to think) is that I hate waking up. Who likes it really?. Not only waking up, getting up (even more difficult).

I calculated that over the course of the crossing, I will have to wake up (and get up) around 600 times (1,200 hours = 50 days, with a shift pattern of two hours on, two off). That’s the equivalent of nearly two years of waking up (and getting up) crammed into less than two months. Crazy, eh?

With one month left to go before leaving, my huge concern now is Covid-19 and the ability to get to Portugal to begin our trip. Borders are still open – for now. If they close, we’ll be… well, screwed.

Postponing is a terrible prospect, one which I don’t even want to contemplate. I’ve worked on this project for 2.5 years and would be devasted if we have to postpone.

Ever little bit helps

It’s been a year to date since I announced my plans to the world via an article in The Times.

In this period, we’ve managed to collect just under €3,000 for my Swiss charities (Swiss Cancer League and Terre des hommes), and around €1,200 for Hospice Malta.

I’m extremely grateful for the contributions people have made. For all three organizations, I’m at around 15% of my target, so please donate or share my website address (www.crossrower.ch or de.crossrower.ch in German) with people. Every single cent goes directly to the organizations.

You don’t need to donate huge amounts – skip your coffee and croissant for one day and donate €10. You know what I mean.

Sports

Row diaries: The team – Patrice Maciel (Team EU rower)

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In March 2021, I will row across the Atlantic Ocean with four others, a grueling 6,000km challenge that will push mind and body to the limit. Patrice Maciel is one of the team members of Team EU

This will not be the first rowing experience for Patrice. He has already completed a solo Atlantic crossing in 2014.

Known locally as the Guyanese Rower (he is a native of the French Guyana), Patrice is 48 years old and married with children. He has been involved in sports for all his life, a passion which is also his profession. He became a sports and football teacher and works in the public sector in Kourou, where the French space center is located.

Throughout his career, he participated in a number of prestigious competitions:

– CON.CA.CAF (Caribbean and Central African Confederation) with the Geldar football club of Kourou

– Guyana Football Champion 2001

– French Surfing Championship (Skimboard category) 2nd in 1991

– European Skimboard Champion (Coach of Olivier CHABERT) Champion 2005

– Rames Guyana Crossing the Atlantic Ocean row from Senegal to Cayenne (capital of French Guyana) solo in 2014 (82 days)

Personal tragedy

Patrice is particularly sensitive to the issue of disability in children. His sister Patricia suffered from mental and physical disabilities, succumbing to her condition.

My parents and I have gone through extremely difficult times, Patrice says.

With his sister spending her time in and out of hospital, Patrice is now rowing to collect funds to help children in need and their families.

It’s also a bit of an escape from daily life, experiencing life on the ocean during the crossing.

School education for young people is another area in which he would like to get involved. In overseas regions, particularly in French Guiana, young people are full of resources and talents.

“I wish to support them through my modest contribution that anything is possible and that you should never give up your dreams,” he says.

He believes in studying and being physically active to be successful, plus having a dream and ambitions in life. For this, he is also supporting the Overseas Youth Association.

Patrice will also use the platform to raise awareness on environmental protection by highlighting the state of the ocean and what he observes during the crossing.

I want to make people aware of the need to preserve our planet, he says.

Motivation

This challenge is an opportunity for Patrice to live a human experience and participate in one of the toughest sporting activities in the world. His considerable experience will be of great help.

The challenge includes living isolated from the world with his co-rowers, confined in a very small space without and privacy for many weeks. Rowing day and night, he is also determined to break the world record from Europe to South America.

“It’s an experience of life, human relationships and surpassing oneself. I appreciate the chance to participate in this project, which is in line with my values: camaraderie, respect, work, solidarity, mutual aid, self-sacrifice, and passion for sport.”

The final destination of Team EU is Kourou, around 60km north of the capital Cayenne. It’s also Patrice’s home town. And apparently, preparations for a welcome home party are already in motion.

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Row diaries: The team – Georgios Ardavanis (Team EU rower)

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In March 2021, I will row across the Atlantic Ocean with four others, a grueling 6,000km challenge that will push mind and body to the limit. Georgios Ardavanis is one of the team members of Team EU

Georgios was always involved extensively in competitive sports, including track, basketball, and tennis. While a university student, he was invited in the Greek  Davis Cup squad for trials. In his early 40s, he became involved in extreme adventures and expeditions.

“I am not a fan of a conventional ordinary life with some pleasant moments of very short duration, like an orgasm, and then nothing. I am not looking for the safe confines of normality. Instead, I am looking for those unique living difficult moments with pain, which altogether are worth a lifetime of glory. I want to achieve immortality by adding my name to a handful of achievers’ lists. “

He said he strongly believes that the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

“I am not doing these extreme expeditions to show how good I am, on the contrary, I want to show how good I want to be. I want to live a life full of speed, according to my dreams, expectations, and values that make me happier. I want to be the best among the best because my soul is unconquerable,” he said

His past expeditions include climbing rock formations in Greece and Bulgaria (2005), Nepal (2006), Russia and Mt Kilimanjaro (2007), and Argentina (2008).

Georgios completed the tough Marathon Des Sables in Sahara Morocco (251 km) in 2008, only the second Greek participant in the history of that event.

Over the next few years, Georgios competed in marathons (including back-to-back marathons in Chicago and Toronto in 2013), triathlons, and ultra-triathlons.

In 2016, he attempted his first ocean rowing challenge, while in 2017, he competed in a Hellathlon in Greece – 760km of cycling, climbing, running, and cycling again.

Completing the rowing challenge in March does not mean Georgios will stop – also this year, he will attempt to cycle across the US and climb the five Himalaya summits back-to-back. Next year, he is planning to sail across the Pacific Ocean in a tall ship. IN 2023, he will cycle the Silk Road from Beijing to Istanbul followed by the Tour D’ Afrique (Cairo – Cape Town) cycling trip a year later.

Georgios holds a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering (Villanova University/USA), MBA (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/USA), PhD in Environmental Engineering (Technical University of Sofia/BG),  and Advanced Executive Studies in Engineering Management (MIT/USA). Also, he studied at the National Conservatory of Greece.

He is a career systems engineer and Technical Director with 30+ years of international experience in railway systems, and infrastructure projects in the USA, Germany, Greece, Bulgaria, West Indies, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Oman, Egypt, Qatar, Dubai, and India. He develops and implements highly complex long-range engineering projects from conceptual and detailed design to implementation, installation and test and commissioning in system engineering, integration, and data analytics covering every phase of engineering, technology, operations, value chain management, system planning, system migration, critical design gate reviews per V-cycle, quality engineering, system assurance.