‘I’m stronger than I realised’

Niki Doeg, 46, says ‘When Frances suggested rowing the Atlantic, I thought, “She’s mad... but wouldn’t that be great?” My sons Corby, 13, and Aiden, 10, were getting older and I was thinking, “Is this it?” I was a wife, a mother and a career woman, but I was keen to rediscover the original Niki.

At first, my husband, Gareth, wasn’t too sure about me doing it. He didn’t want me to be away for so long, as we run a small business together. It would have been easier to say, “Look, girls, I can’t commit”. But ultimately he was 100% supportive, and if something difficult came up, we worked through it. Plus, lots of people offered to help with the school run and taking the boys to their sports classes, even inviting them for meals when I was away. That was one big lesson for me: you can’t be superwoman, you have to take help!

I started rowing because I wanted to be more active and, although we were all rubbish to begin with, we adored it. We’d go out on the river every Saturday and, slowly, we got better and also fitter.

But the journey itself was hard. We were away from our families, living in a confined space, sleeping in snatches of one and a half hours and constantly drenched with sea water. I discovered that I suffer from claustrophobia, and the tiny cabins – where you had to be when you weren’t rowing – had to be sealed, so when it was hot, it was like an oven.

Reaching the finish line was one of the most significant experiences of my life. Those first set of hugs from the kids and Gareth gave me the best feeling ever. I felt such joy at seeing them, as well as disbelief that we had actually done it.

It changed my view of myself. I’m stronger than I realised, and that’s given me confidence. I’m now a fully qualified rugby coach, and have set up a girls’ rugby section at my local club – two things I’d never have done before. We have so many excuses not to do things and it’s easy to worry about failure. But when you give things a shot, it’s amazing where it leads to.’