The fastest woman to solo row across the Atlantic

Words: Tom Ransley / Photography: Jane Stockdale

Britishsports-lawyer Victoria Evans, 35, became the fastest woman to solo row across the Atlantic on the Trade Winds, when she arrived in Port St Charles, Barbados, on March 24th. “Hearing you say it sounds weird. I don't think it has sunk in yet,” says Evans when I ask about the record. “It doesn't sound like you are talking about something I have done.” Evans took 40 days and 21 hours and 1 minute to make the unaided crossing, which beats the previous record, held by fellow Briton Kiko Matthews, by almost nine days. After setting off from Tenerife in the Canary Islands on February 11th Evans rowed a staggering 2,559 nautical miles.

"It feels very surreal being back in London, like it never happened”, says Evans. “My room is full of equipment and gear, and things you shouldn't keep in an apartment, like flares! The row has taken four years of preparation, and it feels weird [to be finished] – it took so long to prepare and the event itself is comparatively short. It has all suddenly happened.”

Her journey was a “real push” that tested her physical and mental limits.

“Once you've literally lived on a boat worried that you might die, stuff just doesn't seem so stressful in day-today life.”

Evans admits there were times she would scream at the ocean, “When are you going to give me a break? It is almost laughable because at some point you know you need to stop screaming and get on with things. I’m the only one here, so screaming isn’t going to change anything!” Evans, who is well-versed in sports psychology, brings a “cerebral” approach to her big physical challenges.She enjoys the “mental element of having to... use your mind to override what your body is telling you”.