The Ocean Explorers Grand Slam is an adventurer goal to complete open-water crossings on all five oceans using human-powered vessel. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
The Ocean Explorers Grand Slam is an adventurer goal to complete open-water crossings on all five oceans using human-powered vessel. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
In 2019, Icelandic explorer Fiann Paul led the first human-powered transit (by rowing) across the Drake Passage (The Impossible Row) [8] [9] and, in doing so, he completed the row on his fifth ocean, and became the first person to achieve the Ocean Explorers Grand Slam. [6] [10] [11] [12] [13] The Ocean Explorers Grand Slam was defined by Guinness World Records adjudicators as completing open-water crossings on all five oceans using human-powered vessels. [2] [3] Fiann achieved the title with his completed crossings on the following oceans: Atlantic (date of completion: 2011), Indian (2014), Pacific (2016), Arctic (2017), and Southern (2019). Completion of this quest took him 9 years. [3]
The definition "Rows on the Polar Open Waters" applies only to pure rowing expeditions across major water basins above the Polar Circle in the Arctic or within the actual boundaries of the Southern Ocean, from land to land, excluding any use of sail, paddling on kayaks or canoes, as well as rows around islands, within archipelagos and coastal rows, i.e. within vicinity of land and possibility to get ashore. [3] [14]
The definition "Ocean Crossing on the Polar Open Waters" applies to pure human-powered expeditions across major water basins above the Polar Circle in the Arctic or within the actual boundaries of the Southern Ocean, from land to land, excluding any use of sail as well as the expeditions around islands, within archipelagos and coastal routes, i.e. within vicinity of land and possibility to get ashore. [3] [15]
The Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition was an Arctic expedition to find the North-East Passage that ran from 1872 to 1874 under the leadership of Julius Payer and Karl Weyprecht. The expedition discovered and partially explored Franz Josef Land.
The Drake Passage is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile, Argentina, and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean and extends into the Southern Ocean. The passage is named after the 16th-century English explorer and privateer Sir Francis Drake.
Sir David Kim Hempleman-Adams, is an English industrialist and adventurer.
The Greenland Sea is a body of water that borders Greenland to the west, the Svalbard archipelago to the east, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Norwegian Sea and Iceland to the south. The Greenland Sea is often defined as part of the Arctic Ocean, sometimes as part of the Atlantic Ocean. However, definitions of the Arctic Ocean and its seas tend to be imprecise or arbitrary. In general usage the term "Arctic Ocean" would exclude the Greenland Sea. In oceanographic studies the Greenland Sea is considered part of the Nordic Seas, along with the Norwegian Sea. The Nordic Seas are the main connection between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and, as such, could be of great significance in a possible shutdown of thermohaline circulation. In oceanography the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas are often referred to collectively as the "Arctic Mediterranean Sea", a marginal sea of the Atlantic.
Ocean rowing is the sport of rowing across oceans. Some ocean rowing boats can hold as many as fourteen rowers; however, the most common ocean rowboats are designed for singles, doubles, and fours.
Sports in Iceland are very popular. Popular sports include football, handball, athletics, basketball, chess, golf, volleyball, tennis, skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, swimming, rock climbing, mountain climbing, horseback riding, archery, strongman, powerlifting and crossfit. In some of those sports, namely football, handball, basketball and strongman, Iceland is extremely successful, considering its population. It manages to compete at comparable level with countries that have 10-200 times its population.
Jock Wishart is a maritime and polar adventurer, sportsman and explorer. Until his successful 2011 Old Pulteney Row to the Pole, he was best known for his circumnavigation of the globe in a powered vessel, setting a new world record in the Cable & Wireless Adventurer and for organising and leading the Polar Race.
The Row To The Pole was a major expedition, which navigated a rowing boat to the North Magnetic Pole at 78°35.7N 104°11.9W, the position certified in 1996. Its mission was to highlight the scale and pace of the retreat of the Arctic Ocean's floating sea ice. It is believed to be the only polar expedition to feature rowing boats since the crew of Sir Ernest Shackleton's row to Elephant Island off South Georgia in 1916, after his aborted attempt to cross Antarctica. The 450-mile journey took almost four weeks.
Felicity Ann Dawn Aston is a British explorer, author and climate scientist.
Colin Timothy O'Brady is an American professional endurance athlete, motivational speaker and adventurer. He is a former professional triathlete, representing the United States on the ITU Triathlon World Cup circuit, racing in 25 countries on six continents from 2009 to 2015.
Fiann Paul is a Polish-Icelandic explorer known for his exploits in ocean rowing.
Eugene Smurgis was a Russian Arctic marine explorer, ultra-long distance rower and Arctic rowing pioneer. From 1967 to 1993 Eugene rowed a total of 48,000 km on oceans, seas and rivers; a distance longer than the circumference of the Earth and the greatest distance ever rowed by a solo ultra-endurance rower. He completed 9900 km of coastal polar ocean rows. Most of his pioneering rows were completed in the Arctic in a primitive open boat with no cabin or crawl space. He was the first recorded polar ocean rower, as the earlier Antarctic expedition by Ernest Shackleton predominantly relied on sails and used oars only to a marginal degree, therefore not meeting the criteria of ocean rowing.
Ocean Rowing Society International (ORSI) (prior to 2006 known as ORS), is the governing body for international ocean rowing and official adjudicator of ocean rowing records for Guinness World Records. ORSI was founded in 1983 in California by ocean rower Peter Bird and Kenneth F.Crutchlow FRGS. Current coordinators of ORSI are Tatiana Rezvaya-Crutchlow and Chris Martin, and Fiann Paul.
Andrew Towne is an American businessman, endurance athlete, adventurer, and motivational speaker. He is known for being part of the six-person rowing crew that completed the first-ever human-powered crossing of the Drake Passage between Cape Horn in South America and Antarctica in December 2019. He is currently a Principal for the Boston Consulting Group's Minneapolis office.
The Impossible Row is a documentary from the Discovery Channel. It follows explorers as they row across the Drake Passage and become the first in history to do so. The journey took 12 days and ended on December 25, 2019 with the six crew members reaching Antarctica. They were the first to accomplish three feats, including the first to row across the Drake Passage, the first to row to the Antarctic, and the first to row in the Southern Ocean.
Cameron Bellamy is an endurance athlete from South Africa. He has broken numerous records including being one of six men on a team to row across the Drake Passage in 2019. He also broke the record for the longest ocean channel swim previously held by Chloe McCardel.
Danny Longman is an English ultra-endurance athlete.
Jamie Douglas-Hamilton is an adventurer who is a world record holder for being part of the team completing the first man-powered crossing of Drake Passage, a feat that was made into the 2020 documentary The Impossible Row.
