Roz Savage enters record books after Indian Ocean crossing

Roz Savage

British rower Roz Savage has become the first woman to row solo across the three biggest oceans in the world.

The 43-year-old arrived in Grand Baie, Mauritius, this morning, bringing to an end a 4,000 mile row across the Indian Ocean that started in Fremantle, Australia, in April.

Savage rowed across the Atlantic in 2006, and became the first woman to row solo across the Pacific in 2010.

The final instalment in her attempt to conquer ‘The Big Three’ saw her rowing 12 hours a day, with hour-long breaks between four three-hour stints.

Savage has spent six years completing her extraordinary challenge, rowing 15,000 miles, spending over 500 days alone at sea, and taking well over five million oar-strokes.

‘Before I started ocean rowing, I thought it was mostly about rowing,’ said Savage, in her final blog entry before arriving at the finish line in Mauritius. ‘But there is so much more to it than that. When you include all the land-based preparations, and the non-rowing activities that take place at sea, rowing is only a fraction of the whole.’

Savage is an active environmental campaigner, and has undertaken her three ocean crossings in a bid to raise awareness of environmental issues – encouraging people to make small changes to prevent pollution.

‘You might think that your effort is just a drop in the ocean,’ she continues on her website, ‘but a drop spreads ripples.’

For more information on Savage’s ocean crossing challenges, and the causes she is supporting, visit www.rozsavage.com.

Video footage of Savage’s arrival in Mauritius can be found here