Two guys from Bristol are going to row across the Atlantic

Jay Olenicz and his friend Ross MacLeod are aiming to do something most of us couldn’t do in a million years.

They plan to row the Atlantic, not only as the youngest rowers, but also in the fastest time.

Setting off on December 15^th 2015, the pair, going by the name of Oarsome Odyssey, aim to row the mammoth 3000 mile distance in an 8m boat from the Canary Islands to Antigua in around 50 days, as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

Ross, left and Jay, right, will be setting off on their challenge this December

Jay, currently in his second year studying Physics at Bristol, says the competition to gain the title is extra high, considering one of the previous record holders was also a Bristol rower.

“I saw in the newspaper that two rowers at 21 had entered the race and thought that’s a pretty cool thing to do, and after doing some research into it and speaking to a friend, I signed up to try and get the record.

“We have to take part this year to get the record as we’re a year younger now, and they did it in 54 days, so we want to do it quicker than that.”

Their challenge is not just for the world record however, as they are rowing in aid of three charities dear to their hearts.

Those charities are Brace, a charity supporting Alzheimer’s, of which Jay has a family history of, and Julia’s House, a children’s hospice in the boys’ home town are amongst the causes, alongside Refuge, a charity supporting female and domestic violence. They hope to raise £100,000 to make the training and challenge all the more worthwhile.

Jay, a keen rower since his school years and member of the university team, currently trains at the Bristol Boat Club once or twice a day for up to four hours, and will be relocating his training to Poole in September in the lead up to the race alongside partner Ross.

He said: “As a race rule, we have to spend 48 hours in the boat before we go so we’re thinking of rowing around the Isle of Wight from Poole, camp overnight there and come back, as a sort of dummy run to prepare us for the race.”

The pair will take to the seas alone in a boat like this, with a support team potentially hundreds of miles away.

Of course, that is not to say that the challenge is without struggle. Being exposed to direct sunlight all day long, monthly cleans of the bottom of the boat, storms that could cause them to capsize and coping with eating 6000 calorie dehydrated food sachets daily are just some of the difficulties that the pair face.

“You add hot water to the sachet and it just sort of turns into food, purely meant for energy. You burn all your fat very soon into the journey before you start burning muscle as an alternative, so I have to massively bulk up before I go. It’s all about the quantity too meaning I can pretty much eat what I want in preparation, which isn’t so bad!”

A daunting but exciting task, the pair seem up for the challenge, and they plan to video blog their journey both to cure the boredom but also update loved ones and supporters back home in the UK.

“My family didn’t believe I was really doing it at first, but now they’re fully behind it. I just can’t wait to be able to say I’ve done it, and maybe spend a few weeks in the Caribbean once it’s all over!”

To find out more click here or to sponsor their epic quest click here.