Irish Solo Rower, Dr. Karen Weekes has completed her Record-Breaking Bid to be the 1st Irish woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
After beginning her journey in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands on the 6th of December of last year, Karen has finished her journey, arriving in Barbados yesterday, the 24th of February 2022, after a lengthy 80 days at sea.
Karen was welcomed into a bustling Bridgetown, Barbados, at 6:30pm (Barbados time GMT-4) as crowds gathered to cheer the Irishwoman on as she arrived into the port. 30 of Karen’s friends, family and colleagues flew over to Barbados with Aer Lingus at the weekend to witness and celebrate her achievement.
In true Bajan style, a welcome party was organised to celebrate Karen’s arrival to Barbados and her achievement of becoming the first Irish female to row any ocean solo and the 20th female in the world to row any ocean solo. Karen was greeted by Barbados Minister for Sport, Charles Griffith, and Jens Thraenhart, the CEO of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., who then presented her with a gift of Bajan rum to acknowledge her astonishing achievement.
After officially becoming the first Irish woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, Dr. Karen Weeke’s said “I’m really not into records but I love that fact that I’m making a little of bit of history.I love the fact that I’m making a bit of history for my family name, which is Weekes. So Irish history and Weekes history is a big thing”.
Commenting on her incredible achievement, Dr. Karen Weekes said “I’ve done a lot of endurance journeys before this, so this [was] really the next logical step for me – a feat of endurance to try and push myself mentally and physically further”.
Karen’s main sponsor Hanley Energy spoke of their joy as she reached the finish line, stating “The Hanley Energy team are thrilled to see Karen reach the finish line of her endeavour and become the first Irish woman to row solo 3,000 miles across the Atlantic. Karen’s endurance, strength and patience throughout her 80 days at sea is truly inspiring.”
“We enjoy supporting non-mainstream sports that have an endurance aspect and Karen’s SHECANDO2021 campaign definitely aligned closely with our sponsorship values and principles. We have a history of backing Irish teams and sports people accomplish the impossible and as lead sponsors of the SHECANDO2021 campaign, we’re extremely proud of Karen and her support team on this fantastic achievement.”
