Vet Sustain Education Lead Hannah Davies Finishes 2000 Mile GB Row

Vet Sustain’s Education Lead, Hannah Davies, took on an incredible challenge this summer to row 2000 nautical miles circumnavigating Great Britain. This journey, not for the faint hearted, saw the ‘Coastal Odyssey' mixed team of six take part in the GB Row Challenge, described as the world’s toughest rowing race.

The team adhered to a gruelling 2-hour-on, 2-hour-off rowing shift pattern as they battled the strong coastal tides and winds. This row had a purpose, their Rossiter ocean rowing boat ‘Intrepid’ was fitted with specialist equipment to collect samples of microplastics, environmental DNA, water temperature, salinity and underwater sound as they completed their journey. The samples and data collected will be analysed by scientists at the University of Portsmouth, helping to build up a complete picture of the state of our coastal waters. Once analysed, the data will be hosted on the Marine Data Exchange, part of the Crown Estate, to help protect the UK’s marine environment for future generations.

The GB Row Challenge, founded by Will de Laszlo and Jim Bastin, has a vision to not only be the toughest rowing challenge in the world, but also to have a powerful sustainable purpose, raising awareness of the importance of protecting our oceans and seas and leaving an environmental legacy in the sport of ocean rowing. You can read more about the GB Row Challenge here as well as access previous years impact reports: https://www.gbrowchallenge.com...

Team Coastal Odyssey arrived back to Tower Bridge on Sunday 28th July after 50 days at sea, and secured a Guiness World Record as the first mixed crew of six to circumnavigate Great Britain unsupported! We extend a huge congratulations to Joe Benson, Hannah Davies, Patrick Deacon, Lia Evans, Daisy Lucker and Adam Ravenscroft for their incredible feat.

The team were also fundraising for Surfers Against Sewage, and raised over £7000 to date, if you want to support them you can still donate at https://www.justgiving.com/tea...

Hannah reflecting on her awe-inspiring journey said “It has been such a privilege to take part in this challenge, especially to get to see the British coastline from such a unique perspective and to be able to collect samples and data which will hopefully help us to better understand our oceans and seas. I have felt more and more connected to the ocean over the last 12 months as we have prepared for and completed this adventure. It is an incredibly humbling environment, with such power, and yet such calmness, and I felt so lucky to see puffins, sea birds, minke whales, dolphins and all sorts of weird and wonderful jellyfish on our journey! I was so grateful to the many, many people who came out to see us on the water, and who have sponsored us as we have completed this adventure. Their words of support and encouragement have been wonderfully motivating. I hope that our row will help to raise awareness of the pollution challenges that our oceans are facing and inspire others to protect these fragile ecosystems in the future.”

From everyone at Vet Sustain, we couldn’t be prouder of you Hannah!