Four men taking on World’s Toughest Row benefit from university sports expertise

The rowing team from Lessons from a Boat visited the University of Chichester's Sport Performance and Rehabilitation Unit (SPRU) recently to gain valuable insights into their physiological profiling ahead of their gruelling race across the Atlantic.

Jon Wilburn, Steve Potter, Jason Howard and Dan Dicker are preparing for the World's Toughest Row, a 3,000-mile race across the Atlantic Ocean which could take around 50 days starting in December 2024.

The team aim to raise more than £200,000 for Diabetes UK, The Last Straw and Cancer Research UK by rowing the Atlantic in the world's most sustainable rowing boat.

As part of their training, the rowers visited the University of Chichester campus on 5 April to use the specialist facilities, including the Cosmed Q-NRG metabolic analyser which provides accurate measurements of users' metabolic rate.

Jason said the team could be rowing for 40 to 50 days, and the tests would help them to 'get the balance right' when it comes to training and nutrition.

Jon added: "We have got to meet certain criteria for the World's Toughest Row. It's understanding a bit more what we going to need; it's not just packs of sandwiches. It gives some credibility to what we're doing."

Steve, who completed a Sports Studies degree at the University of Chichester's former incarnation, the West Sussex Institute of Higher Education, in 1992, said: "What we want from it is hopefully a physical, psychological and nutritional programme.

"And students here who are doing a Masters or PhD, we putting our hands up and saying 'we're a bunch of old blokes, if you want to use our data, then by all means do.'"

Dr Andy West, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Physiology, said: "The World's Toughest Row is an extremely demanding physical challenge. The crew will be rowing for somewhere between eight and 18 hours per day in a continuous two to three hour on/off pattern expending between 5,000 and 7,000 calories per day.

"Previous event competitors have reported substantial body mass losses of up to 10% as a result of a sustained imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. All these factors combined can have important performance and potential health implications. As such, members of staff and students from the Institute of Applied Sciences are working with the crew now to ensure they are in the best physical condition when they set off for Antigua."

To find out more about the Sport Performance and Rehabilitation Unit, visit: www.chi.ac.uk/collaborate/business-and-employers/access-to-expertise/sport-expertise/sports-performance-and-rehabilitation/

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