After nearly three years of preparation, Omaha native Taryn Smith is rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean in one of the world’s most demanding endurance races.
Smith is competing in the World’s Toughest Row, a 3,000-mile race from the Canary Islands to Antigua, where athletes cross the Atlantic Ocean in rowboats. Forty-three teams from 20 countries around the world launched Dec. 14 from La Gomera in the Canary Islands and are expected to spend 40 to 60 days at sea.
Smith’s journey into ocean rowing began after she read an article in Vogue magazine about the Latitude 35 women’s team, which broke a world record rowing across the Pacific Ocean from Monterey, California, to Honolulu.
Smith had grown up around boats. Both of her grandfathers sailed, but she had never had rowing experience prior to signing up for the race. Without having experience required to join an established team, Smith chose to compete solo. She spent nearly three years training, mostly in the United Kingdom, and months practicing with her ocean rowing boat, an R25 built by Rannoch Adventure.
“Taryn and her adventurous spirit seem to know no fear,” said Shelly Smith, Taryn’s mother. “She has always been a kid that thrives on adventure. She just really likes that challenge.”
After graduating from Nebraska Wesleyan University, Smith pursued a life centered around travel and adventure. Now she’s combining her passion for adventure with advocacy. During her solo crossing she is representing Girls on the Run, a nonprofit that empowers girls in grades three through eight through physical activity and confidence-building programs.
“Part of the reason that she partnered with Girls on the Run is that female empowerment,” Shelly Smith said. “You can do hard things. You don’t have to be the best at something to still have that experience.”
Girls on the Run uses a running-based curriculum to teach social, emotional and physical skills, helping girls develop their own confidence, healthy habits and a sense of their own potential.
For Smith, the partnership aligns with her core motivation behind the journey.
Ocean rowing, she wrote in her biography, is about taking risks, learning new skills and living boldly.
For more information on The World’s Toughest Row and its competitors visit worldstoughestrow.com.
