Adventure rowing meets the Viking Pro – Team Trident hit open water
Adventure rowing meets the Viking Pro – Team Trident hit open water
The Viking Pro Indoor Water Rowing Machine – the ultimate training rower for extreme water conditions
With the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Race fast approaching, Row2Recovery’s Team Trident are feeling the pressure as they ramp up their arduous training regime. Their 4,800km journey from La Gomera to Antigua begins in December and is expected to take them between 40-90 days. During the race, they will be living in a seven-metre boat containing everything they need to survive while rowing in two-hour shifts.
First Degree Fitness is a proud sponsor of Row2Recovery’s Team Trident providing two Viking Pro indoor water rowing machines to ensure the closest emulation to open-water rowing training possible, throughout the team’s entire training program.
Team Trident’s Jordan Beecher said while recently completing their qualifying rows on the English Channel, they learnt some valuable lessons about open-water rowing and influencing factors such as tides, wind and currents. Now, however, they are back to training on the Viking Pro indoor water rowing machines donated by FDF.
First Degree Fitness commercial-grade indoor water rowing machines combine the optimal power curve of fluid resistance with patented adjustable resistance to induce the levels of rowing strength required to handle coastal rowing conditions. From catching the water at the right angle, to digging deeper to gain speed – the clever integration of sensory and functional features has been integral to developing Row2Recovery’s rowing technique for extreme conditions.
“It feels like only yesterday we were still sat at the planning table in Sandhurst [UK] looking for potential sponsors or studying celestial navigation techniques. Now, we have tens of days before reaching the start line and the pressure is on to not only complete all the paper work and equipment checks necessary to get the boat ready for shipping, but also to arrive in La Gomera in the best physical shape possible to start our assault on the Atlantic,” Jordan said.
Described as one of the toughest endurance challenges on Earth, the pair have been training for the Transatlantic Journey for the past year. It’s not only physical fitness that’s important, but mental strength too, due to the magnitude of the task.
“The pressure to approach the race in the most professional and educated state possible is at the forefront of my thinking in everything I do. Every repetition of stroke on the Viking Pro indoor water rowing machine is another step closer to the start line, another second invested in our endeavour. The time, sweat, tears and ultimately money invested in our pursuit to cross the Atlantic is a heavy, ever-present weight hanging over Jon and myself,” said Jordan.
“If I’m honest, I look to the start of the race with ever growing excitement, mainly in anticipation of being released from the worry of emails, phone calls and the unexpected bill for another piece of equipment necessary for the row. Once the race starts, all we must do is row,” shared Jordan.
Row2Recovery will be donating all funds raised from the Atlantic row to three charities: Blesma, the Gurkha Welfare Trust and Dreamflight.
Read more about the benefits of FDF’s commercial-grade indoor water rowing machines when training for coastal water rowing, beach rowing and flat water rowing competitions.
