The duo who met at University have a mutual love for competition and have broken the old record by 9 days.
Crossing an ocean is a formidable feat, but challenges become manageable with the support of a close friend. Jessica Oliver and Charlotte Harris experienced this firsthand when they crossed the Pacific Ocean in record time. According to Fox News, the duo rowed 2,800 miles from Monterey, California, to Kauai, Hawaii, in 37 days, 11 hours, and 43 minutes as part of the 2024 World’s Toughest Row Pacific Challenge.
The duo, known as Team "Wild Waves" broke the record of the fastest female row across the Pacific. They were the first ones to finish the journey and arrive in Hawaii, as per the outlet. "We knew nothing about rowing. We knew nothing about the ocean," Oliver told the outlet referring to the pair's experience in the Atlantic Ocean 4 years back. "In 2020, we signed up for something called the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, having never rowed before. Charlotte [Harris] worked for a company who sponsored it... and she said to me, ‘Do you want to do this challenge?’" the 32-year-old recounted. The pair had just competed in a boxing challenge before it and were looking for a new one to raise money for Shelter & Women’s Aid, a national campaign for homeless people.
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Oliver and Harris, from Gloucestershire and Hampshire respectively, met 15 years ago at Cardiff University, where they both played in the hockey club. "Do you know when you meet someone [and] you’re like, ‘We are kindred spirits?’" Oliver pointed out. After signing up for the Atlantic row, the women spent two years preparing for the competition. After rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to Antigua in 45 days, the friends had become the fastest female pair to cross The Atlantic. "Six months later, the race organizers opened up the Pacific Challenge, and we sat at our desks going, ‘It wasn’t that bad, was it? The Atlantic? We could do it again?’" Oliver recounted.
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They have beaten the existing women's record by 9 days, as per Good News Network. Nonetheless, it doesn't mean that the experience was anything short of grueling for the pair. "It was very challenging. Honestly, I have respect for any team who does this challenge," Oliver said in a video shared by World's Toughest Row. "I actually can't tell you how much I cried," Harris expressed. "It's absolutely the hardest thing we've ever done, ever," Oliver continued as the friends celebrated their big win. The best friends agreed that it was quite different from competing in The Atlantic row.
The pair were rowing anywhere between 16 to 20 hours a day and slept whenever they got a chance as they were neck to neck with other pairs, as per Fox News. Their system even failed to alert them about a large boat and they almost ended up colliding with a massive oil tanker. "We crossed the finish line, and it had been so stressful and had been quite traumatic, that we were like, 'OK, we’ve done what we wanted.’" She continued, "The real thing for us that was the cherry on top was actually winning the female class. We beat all the teams of threes and fours, and we came second in the whole race only 24 hours behind a team of four military men."