Joyful celebrations as Molly successfully completes ‘World’s Toughest Row’

A former Lynn student has accomplished a 3,000-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean, racing against 37 other teams.Molly Hemeter, 27, who attended King Edward VII (KES) Academy, took part in the ‘World’s Toughest Row’ with her ‘Atlantic Fusion’ team.Together, they rowed 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to Antigua to raise money for their chosen charity, Abbie’s Army.

The race consisted of many obstacles, including mental and physical fatigue, mother nature and lack of luxuries – taking competitors to physical extremes. However, they completed the challenge in 44 days, five hours and 55 minutes.Molly said that mother nature was the most difficult obstacle to overcome, as the weather “didn’t do anything that anybody expected it would do this year”.Consequently, Molly and her teammates – Dave Fassam, Bel Noyes and Annika Israelsson – strengthened their mental resilience, determination and teamwork, having to improvise when some were injured or unwell.

Molly said: “Dave got a knee infection, which meant he couldn’t row for four days so we had to adapt as a team to that.” “Every day became the same,” she added.“Time feels very strange out there because all you’ve got is your rowing shifts and your off shifts to determine where you are within the day.” The competing teams would travel through four different time zones throughout the race. However, they always had to stay within GMT.

Within a 24-hour period, each team member would be rowing six times – each person rowing in two-hour periods.Molly said her day would start at 8am GMT, with her rowing from 8am-10am.The race was a way for Molly and her team to push their boundaries and raise money for charity. Abbie’s Army is closely held to the team’s hearts as it raises awareness of child brain cancer, most commonly Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), an aggressive hard-to-treat type of tumour.

In total, ‘Atlantic Fusion’ raised around £60,000. They exceeded their £25,000 target, receiving £18,000 from their JustGiving page and the rest was a profit from charity events and the sale of their boat.“The whole experience was an indescribable feeling,” Molly said.“It was a personal goal that I wanted to complete, that was stirred on from wanting to raise money for charity.”

“If people want to do something that pushes their limits and boundaries, then this is an experience to go for,” Molly added.

Reporting by Cara Fiore