Worthing Rowing Club world record holder attempts to cross the Atlantic for the NHS

The extreme rower, from Littlehampton, was part of the Worthing-based Team Atlantic Splash doomed venture in 2013, when the five men had to be airlifted to safety after their boat sprang a leak during horrendous weather conditions.

Just over four years later, in February 2018, his dream came true and Neal completed the gruelling crossing with a new crew.

A member of Worthing Rowing Club, Neal is now working away on his rowing machine at home to raise money for NHS Charities Together.

Neal said: “Whereas this could seem an extreme challenge at first, it is not designed to be extreme in any sort of way.

“As the Covid-19 pandemic strikes Britain, our NHS is more stretched than ever. Our doctors, nurses, administrative and cleaning staff are making a great job at keeping us all safe, but it comes as a price, material and human.”

Neal’s Atlantic Row for the NHS has so far raised £1,190 and he hopes to reach at least £2,000 by the end of May.

He started on Thursday, April 23, and covered more than 2,666km to date. The full distance will be equivalent to rowing across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canaries to Antigua.

Neal said: “This will be completed over time, as the lockdown continues, in condition similar to those of an actual solo ocean row. Two hours on, two hours off, eating during the breaks, sleeping when needed and as much as needed, with a goal of completing at least 120km a day, which would make the whole challenge last 40 days.

“This is in support of all the NHS staff, with the aim of giving them not only some of the material support they need today, but also the mental health support they will need tomorrow, when this crisis ends and our lives return to some sort of normality.”

Bastien Leclair, a key member of Neal’s support crew who was with him in the Atlantic row in 2013, said the challenge is expected to continue, all being well, until the last week of May.

Bastien said: “Neal is an experienced figure of extreme rowing, having undertaken two real-life Atlantic rows.

“Rescued at sea in 2013 with the rest of the Worthing-based Team Atlantic Splash, he was successful with the second one, in 2018, from Portugal to French Guiana.

“He has also beaten the record for the longest continual row, rowing 50 minutes an hour without interruption, twice, completing 80 hours in 2014 and 83 hours in 2017. He currently owns two Guinness World Records from his 2018 Atlantic row.

“We are now trying to raise awareness of the new challenge, in order to raise as much as possible to support NHS workers in West Sussex and in Britain as a whole.”

Visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/atlantic-row-to-help to make a donation and find {https://www.facebook.com/RowingForNHS/Neal’s Atlantic Row for the NHS} on Facebook for updates.

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