Lymington rowers break 12 hour distance world record

A four man crew from Lymington Amateur Rowing Club (LARC) has completed 122.4km in 12 hours, becoming the world record holders (unverified) for the furthest distance rowed in open water in 12 hours.

This open water record was previously held by the Russian Federation who completed 120km in 12 hours in 2018.

The Challenge 100 rowing record bid started in Poole on Monday at 06.32am with the team getting back to Lymington 13hrs and 39minutes and 138.5km later, having circumnavigated the Isle of Wight and breaking the world record en-route.

With its strong currents and extreme tidal range the coastal waters around the Isle of Wight offer one of the most extreme, but also one of the fastest options, for an open water rowing challenge.

This is why the area was chosen as the approved course for the Guinness World Record attempt.

The crew, made up of Dave Mans, Alex Gasper, Toby Backhouse, Rob Maltby and Coxen, Jack Mans, has been training since January for the record attempt, which has also been successful in raising  £4700 so far for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Fun.

Mans and Maltby are no strangers to Guinness World Records after completing the fastest time to row the length of the Thames in a two-man boat in October 2017.

The crew were also hoping to break two further world records, the fastest 50nm and 100nm in open water, but were unsuccessful. Speaking to BBC Radio Solent yesterday, Mans said: “It was quite a dramatic day, but we manage to break one of the records subject to verification, which was superb.

“Took a bit of a herculean effort in the last hour, but a really awesome day.”

It may take two to three months for the crew’s record to be verified, but Mans says he’s “pretty confident  that we’ve done what we need to.”

Readers can still make a donation on the crew’s Virgin Money Giving page.

All images courtesy of melinki @rowingadventuresltd.