Meet the team:
The team comprises Ed Ogden, Oliver Browne, James Peet and Tom Newman. Ed started the team in early 2020 and after a summer race in the Mediterranean and tweak in team members, they reached out to the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences for training tips using the amazing Sports lab equipment and expertise of Professor James Hopker and team
TTWU are supported by their coach, Sandy Loder, who has been taking teams to the Artic for over a decade and was also coach to the current Atlantic rowing challenge World record holders.
Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge 2022:
The team will be taking on the premier event in ocean rowing, which will take the team over 2800 miles west from San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands to Nelson’s Dockyard English Harbour, Antigua and Barbuda. The race starts in early December with up to 30 teams participating from around the world.
Teams’ battle with sleep deprivation, salt sores, and physical extremes inflicted by the race. Rowers are left with their own thoughts, an expanse of the ocean and the job of getting the boat safely to the other side.
Working with Sport and Exercise Sciences:
The team will be working with academics at the University of Kent School of Sport and Exercise Sciences to increase their fitness and rowing stability over a sustained period of time. Using the departments world leading facilities the academic team are able to monitor the rowers progress.
Professor John Dickinson from the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences said:
‘We are absolutely delighted to be supporting the Atlantic Rowing Team This Way Up. Since November 2021 we have been able to get the team into the lab on two occasions to assess their respiratory function, review physiological factors such as percentage body fat and importantly, assess their rowing fitness; we’ve found out they are already pretty fit! Through our testing have been able to provide science driven training advice to optimise their build up to the race. In addition, we have been able to offer our postgraduate students some experience working first hand with the rowers which will also provide them with valuable applied experiences that they can take with them once they have graduated.’
Watch Ed and the team in action in the Sport and Exercise Sciences lab.
Charity:
The team are raising money for Starlight, a children’s charity who uses the power of play to make the experience of illness and treatment better for children and their families.
Sarah Woods, Director of Fundraising and Marketing at Starlight said: “We are so honoured that Team This Way Up have picked Starlight as their chosen charity for this incredible feat. Having the time, space, and opportunity to play is so important, particularly when children are unwell. Not only does play help reduce fear and anxiety of being in hospital, but in some cases, it can even reduce the need of sedation and reduce the long-term trauma of treatment. We provide toys and games to boost children’s mood, help them relax and distract them from scary procedures. We also arrange fun days out and breaks for seriously ill children, so they can meet other children just like them, get away from the worries of treatment, and most importantly have fun. From all at Starlight we wish Team This Way Up the best of luck in this epic adventure.”
Follow the team on Instagram