
Young Student Sets Record: First Solo Row from Europe to South America
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A groundbreaking achievement in the world of adventure sports has been recorded by 21-year-old Zara Lachlan from Cambridge, who is believed to be the youngest person and first woman to row solo and unsupported from mainland Europe to mainland South America. Departing from Lagos on the Portuguese Algarve on October 27 last year, Zara completed a staggering 3,600 nautical-mile journey, arriving in French Guiana after 97 days at sea.
Zara, a physics graduate from Loughborough University who is set to join the Army in September as a technical officer, faced a multitude of challenges during her journey. Battling through physical injuries including a cut leg, an injured arm, and a broken finger, along with the daunting experience of a capsized boat and malfunctioning equipment, she proved her resilience on the open water. Despite these setbacks, Zara maintained a determined spirit throughout her expedition, reported by the Daily Mail.
Reflecting on her near-completion of the journey, Zara told the PA news agency, reported by the Independent:
“I found that last week actually really hard, because I knew I was close and it never actually felt close enough. But then it really snuck up on me, because French Guiana is actually very flat, and I didn’t see it until I was about five miles offshore. And then all of a sudden I was just here, and obviously it feels nice to be done. Nobody knew I was coming in, but I got clapped by lots of fishermen from Brazil. I think everybody was just a little bit more confused what on Earth I was doing.”
Zara’s journey was not only a test of endurance but also of precision and navigation. During her challenge, she rowed for 16 hours a day, often in complete solitude with only the sound of the water for company. “I rowed for 16 hours a day with literally only the sound of the water, which most of the time is really nice, but sometimes I think my brain could really use some kind of stimulation,” she explained.
The adventure was not without its close calls. At one point, Zara experienced a near miss with a ship, which passed within 0.1 of a mile, its radio remaining silent as it sailed by. Early in her expedition, she recounted that she was “going around in circles,” but soon found herself embracing every single day—even the really tough ones. She also mentioned that she smashed the screen of her primary phone on day 40, leaving her without music or digital comfort for a time.
Reflecting on her overall experience, Zara said:
“I learned to be a lot easier on myself because I’ve always been somebody that, especially when it comes to myself, looks at the outcome and the results over the effort you put in. So if you want something, you work hard for it, and if you don’t get it, it is because you didn’t work hard enough for it. But then with this, having weather which you can’t control and which a lot of the time you’re not stronger than, I really had to change how I viewed progress each day.”
Carrying 800kg of supplies and consuming up to 5,500kcal of meals and snacks per day, Zara missed beating the solo row speed record for the journey by 19 hours. Now set to return to university to resume her normal rowing training before graduating in the summer, she also dedicated her expedition to raising funds for the Team Forces Foundation and the charity Women in Sport. Her inspiring journey has already earned accolades, including a memorable encounter with Princess Anne at a military parade at Welbeck Defense Sixth Form College in Leicestershire last summer.