The North Cork GP who’s ended up trying to row the Atlantic
CASTLETOWNROCHE’S DR PAT O’CONNOR AIMS TO BE PART OF FIRST ALL-IRISH FOUR-MAN CREW TO ROW THE ATLANTIC
REBEL doctors will be joined by a podiatrist and an entrepreneur as they take on a 3,000 nautical mile rowing challenge across the Atlantic in a race dubbed the toughest in the world.
Castletownroche’s Dr Patrick O’Connor will be joined by Dr Seán Underwood of Blarney and Eoin O’Farrell, a podiatrist from Ballinlough. Also joining them will be Dublin entrepreneur Thomas Browne. The team, dubbed the ‘Relentless Rowers’ aim to break the current world record by completing the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge which will see them leave the shores of San Sebastian de la Gomera as they row nearly 3,000 nautical miles across the Atlantic to the Caribbean Island of Antigua in under 35 days.
They are doing this in their attempt to raise over €20,000 for the children’s hospital unit at CUH along with raising funds for Pieta House.
If the Relentless Rowers are successful they will be the first all Irish four man crew to do so.
The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge is known as the world’s toughest row, and the team will take part in a specially-designed small 28ft ocean rowing boat, named Saoirse.
The rules are strict as each team will have rowed their boat for a minimum of 24 hours – at least 12 of these must be during the hours of darkness and, apart from the use of a water-maker, collection of rainwater and fishing, no boat will receive any re-supplies of food, drink or equipment during the race. They will have to survive with what they have on board. Any outside assistance whatsoever equates to automatic disqualification – a fact not lost on the Relentless Rowers, as they have been upping their training in recent weeks during both the day and night time on the Lee.
When The Corkman asked Dr Pat O’Connor (28) of Doonawanly just where did the idea for such a challenge stem from, he said with a smile that three-anda-half years ago, while in the middle of doing medical exams, his friend Sean Underwood told him he had read a book when he was about 10 years old about rowing the Atlantic and he desperately wanted to do it – but also wanted Pat to join him. There was one small problem. Pat couldn’t row and he couldn’t swim. But Sean was persistent and Pat said he felt that by 2017 the plan would have disappeared. But as the years ticked onwards, Sean’s plan had not waned one inch. And so Pat had to learn how to row and to swim.
Pat is the son of Anne and the late Kevin and there are seven in the family. While Pat isn’t training for this challenge, he can be found on the family farm which he loves. “Farming is the perfect contrast to medicine as I’m outside doing physical work. I really love it,” he said. He has many accolades under his belt and he also represented Ireland at World Kickboxing as well as completing the Malin to Mizen Head cycling challenge in under 24 hours. The farming community in North Cork also know him from TG4 Feirm Factor, where he was crowned ‘Ireland’s greatest farmer’.
With the upcoming challenge, he said he is looking forward to it but in equal measures he is also nervous. For his training session on Tuesday night, the crew rowed from the Port of Cork to Blackrock castle numerous times and he spent his first night also sleeping on the boat as, after all, the 28 foot boat will be the crews home for under 35 days. “It was good practice to sleep on the boat and rough it out. I’m really going to have to get used to being uncomfortable,” he said with a laugh.
At present, Pat is doing locum work and farming and training – so he certainly has his hands full. When the task kicks off, each of the crew will require 5,000 calories per day and every rower will lose between 12-18kg.
With a 28 foot boat and four hardy bucks on board every inch of the Saoirse will be utilised. In short, what this task will consist of is eight oars, four rowers, and one bucket for a toilet along with their supplies, thoughts, sleep deprivation, salt sores, storms, hunger, and physical exertion mixed in with the challenge of their lives. Up to 30 teams from around the world take part in this gruelling competition but it will ultimately be the grit to reach Antigua which will be foremost in this crew’s mind.
Dr Seán Underwood said: “Fewer people have crossed the Atlantic than have climbed Everest, so we’re well aware of the challenge we’re undertaking, but quite simply, we believe that you only get one shot at life, everybody dies but not everybody lives.
He added: “In the hospitals we work in, we are faced almost daily with the fragility of the human condition. To put a dream on hold in the hope of affording a better time to do it is a dangerous thing. Life fleets past us. There is and will never be a good time to row an ocean, so we’re acting on our dreams here and now.
“If we can make a difference to just one child in the CUH Children’s Unit by competing in this race, then it will all have been worth it.”
While their primary goal is to raise funds for the Children’s Unit at CUH, the team is also hoping to raise awareness for suicide prevention charity, Pieta House.
Pat said: “Unfortunately, there really isn’t a family in the country which hasn’t been affected in one way or another by suicide or depression. Pieta House does marvellous work and we want to support them too. As a doctor, we see the work which they do.”
The Relentless Rowers will start their challenge along with 30 teams from around the world on Tuesday, December 12. Over the next number of weeks various fund-raisers will be held to help these hardy bucks to reach their fundraising goal.
Anyone who wants to make a donation can do so at www. relentless.ie.