Physio Rows into Record Books

A documentary film is being made about the four British women who rowed the Pacific to claim their place in history.

Emmy award-winning documentary film-maker Sarah Moshman followed the journey of The Coxless Crew, the first all-female crew and the first 4s boat to make the epic 8,446 miles voyage.

British physiotherapist Laura Penhaul, 33, expedition manager Emma Mitchell, 31, and Natalia Cohen, 41, an adventure tour leader, rowed in two-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, from San Francisco in April 2015 to the northern Australian city of Cairns.

They spent 235 days at sea, encountering sharks, whales and huge seas before mooring their bright pink 29-foot rowing boat named Doris in Cairns in January 2016.

The boat was set up with two rowing positions so two of the women were always on the oars whilst the other two rested, slept or had something to eat. In bad storms, they all had to squeeze into the tin cabin.

Laura, a triathlete and lead physiotherapist for the British Paralympics Athletics, came up with the idea for the journey after a friend died of breast cancer.

After placing an advert for a crew on an adventure website she put together her team which also included estate agent Meg Dyos, 26, who joined them on the last leg from Samoa, and osteopath Lizanne van Vuuren, 28, who joined the team in Hawaii.

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