NGHS alumna and former Deputy Head Girl, Victoria Monk (Class of 2010) is undertaking one of the world’s toughest challenges, to inspire more girls and women to take up and continue to pursue sport.

Victoria and three other teammates have come together to form There She Rows – an all-female crew planning to row 3,000 miles, unassisted, across the Atlantic Ocean in December 2023.  

The Atlantic Challenge starts in La Gomera, in the Canary Islands and finishes in Antigua in the Caribbean some 40 days later.  The weather and conditions will be extreme and the team will row two hours on, two hours off, 24 hours a day for the duration of the crossing, contending with up to 40ft waves, storms and potential capsizes.  

 The race is deemed one of the toughest challenges in the world, but Victoria and team hope the impact of their efforts will be bigger than the challenge itself.  

“We want to use this row as a platform to inspire more women and girls to get into sport and help to address some of the huge inequalities that still exist,”  Victoria said, adding:  

 “More than half of girls will quit playing sport by age 17 and there are fewer women than men exercising at every age group – missing out on its benefits in both their personal and professional lives.”

 

 

Victoria goes on to say:

 “More than 90% of female executives played sport as a teenager [Why female athletes make winning Entrepreneurs, a report by Ernst and Young and ESPN W] – we want to inspire more girls to get into sport and support the female leaders of the next generation. If we can cross an ocean in a tiny rowing boat (having never rowed before), then you can be inspired to cross your own Atlantic Ocean, whatever that may look like for you.” 

Over the Easter weekend, Victoria and her team will walk 100 miles (161km) across the South Downs carrying their boat as they continue to try to inspire girls and women to get into sport.

 

 

They will start from Winchester, in Hampshire, and trek to Eastbourne in East Sussex. If they complete this gruelling challenge, they will have walked the furthest distance carrying a boat ever recorded and will achieve a world record.

Team There She Rows is raising money for the Women’s Sport Trust, a leading UK charity whose aim is to raise the visibility and increase the impact of women’s sport. They’re also supporting the Teenage Cancer Trust (in memory of NGHS friend, Alexis Peadon) and Endometriosis UK.  

We are excited to follow this challenge and we wish Victoria and her teammates lots of luck. We are looking forward to welcoming Victoria back into school to inspire our current students.

Follow their progress on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/theresherows/