Rowing trio urge young people to 'get off phones'

A female rowing team who are due to row non-stop across the Pacific Ocean said they wanted to inspire younger people to "get off their phones and get outdoors".

Miriam Payne and Lottie Hopkinson-Woolley, both 24, and Jess Rowe, 27, hope to become the first trio to row across the Pacific Ocean non-stop and unsupported.

The crew, named Seas The Day, will set off from Peru, South America, in April 2025 and arrive in Australia six months later.

Ms Payne, from Market Weighton in East Yorkshire, said one of the biggest challenges would be “the food”.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Saturday, she said the crew would consume about 5,000 calories a day, but would still be in a calorie deficit due to the amount that rowing would burn.

“We'll be trying to gain weight beforehand and just get as strong as possible, build as much muscle beforehand,” she said.

Ms Payne previously set a new race record when she rowed solo across the Atlantic in the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge in 2022.

Ms Hopkinson-Woolley, from Wimbledon in south-west London, said she would like to inspire younger children.

Her message was: "Get outdoors; do the little adventures, go climbing, get off [your[ phones, get out of the room and just go outside.”

Ms Rowe, originally from Hampshire but now based in Chichester, West Sussex, has also rowed across the Atlantic as part of a crew of four and said she hoped they would get lots of sunshine.

She said: “Your hands get completely ruined because they're covered in blisters and calluses, and they're also always wet. So hopefully we'll get lots of sunshine, and we can draw ourselves out and pull the mattresses out the cabins.”

The challenge, named The Great Pacific Escapade, is roughly 8,000 miles (12,875km) long and the trio will be raising money for charity The Outward Bound Trust.

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