There She Rows: Four Women (And A Boat) Will Walk South Downs For Charity

Four women are walking 100 miles carrying a rowing boat between them – the entire length of the South Downs Way – to raise awareness for women and girls in sport.

The women – Victoria Monk (30), Ana Zigic (27), Ellie Reynolds (24) and Molly Green (26) – will be aiming to complete the walk within four days, over the Easter Weekend.

Starting in Winchester, Hampshire and finishing in Eastbourne, East Sussex – the foursome will be aiming to break a world record for the longest distance travelled by foot, while carrying a boat.

The team of women hope that this expedition will help shine a spotlight on the inequalities that exist for women in sport – in particular, the number of girls that drop out of sport when they reach puberty.

The centi-walk forms part of a broader campaign to raise the profile and visibility of women’s sport – culminating in a 3,000-mile Atlantic Ocean row at the end of the year.

The women – previously strangers – united in 2022 to form the team ‘There She Rows’, with a shared belief that more concentrated effort needs to be committed to ensuring sport is a safe and inclusive space for all.

“More than half of girls will quit playing sport by age 17 missing out on its myriad benefits for the rest of their lives – we want to change that,” There She Rows team captain, Victoria Monk, said.

“All four of us have been lucky enough to benefit from sport throughout our lives – physically, mentally, personally and professionally – and we want to help inspire the next generation of girls and women to fall in love with sport and exercise.

“We wanted to walk the length of the South Downs Way to help raise the profile and inspire more women and girls to get into sport. By carrying the rowing boat with us, we represent the myriad barriers that currently exist preventing girls from getting involved with, or staying in sport. We are walking 100miles – which is a mile for every 10,000 girls that will drop out of sport this year.”

There She Rows are fundraising for three charities close to their hearts; Women’s Sport Trust, Endometriosis UK and Teenage Cancer Trust. If you want to donate towards the cause, please visit: gofundme/theresherows

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THE ATLANTIC CHALLENGE

The Atlantic Challenge is a 3,000-mile, unassisted rowing race that starts on 12th December 2023. The race starts in La Gomera, the Canary Islands, and finishes in Antigua, the Caribbean. The race is unsupported, meaning crews must be completely self-sufficient for the duration of the crossing – living off freeze-dried ration packs and desalinated water. Teams will typically row in a 2h-on-2h-off (24h p/day) shift pattern for the duration of the challenge. On average, the race takes between 35-55 days to complete (largely dependent upon the size of the crew and weather conditions).

THERE SHE ROWS

There She Rows is a team of four women – previously strangers – united by a shared ambition to make sport a more inclusive space for girls and women. Over 90% of female xxecutives have played sport, yet there's almost half a million fewer active women than men. In fact, there are fewer women than men exercising at every age group (Sport England, 2022). There She Rows are on a mission to change that and will be competing in the Atlantic Challenge, 2023.

More information can be found at the team’s website.