March 15) -- The Atlantic Ocean is no match for Katie Spotz.
The 22-year-old woman became the youngest person to make the trip across the Atlantic alone in a rowboat. After 70 days at sea, hundreds of well-wishers welcomed Spotz into the port of Georgetown, Guyana Sunday as she completed her 2,817 mile journey from Dakar, Senegal.
"The hardest part was just the solo part," Spotz told The Associated Press.
For over two months, she rowed alone amid high waves, beating sun, and very little fresh food. But for the Mentor, Ohio native, "endurance challenges" are a way of life. In 2008, Spotz became the first person to swim the entire length of the 325-mile Allegheny River. She has also biked across the country and ran 150 miles across the Mojave and Colorado deserts alone.
Katie Spotz, 22, of Mentor, Ohio, arrives in Georgetown, Guyana, on Sunday. She began her Atlantic crossing on Jan. 3 in Senegal.
Spotz's trans-Atlantic row raised over $70,000 for the Blue Planet Run Foundation, which works to provide safe drinking water around the world.
Her coach, Sam Williams, said Spotz was more interested helping the foundation's cause than she was in breaking records.
"The records are just a bonus for Katie. Rowing the Atlantic and raising funds for clean water are the things she really cares about," Williams told the AP.
But there's a reason so few rowers dare to make the trip across the Atlantic. According to The New York Times, Spotz rowed between 8 and 10 hours a day, and said rough waves made it difficult to sleep. "Sleeping was a real problem," Spotz told The Times. "It took a toll to put out that much physical effort on very little rest."
About a week ago, Spotz had nearly made landfall when she encountered such rough seas that she was forced to row 400 miles to the northeast of her original destination of Cayenne, French Guiana, to Georgetown.
On the second-to-last day of the trip, her GPS tracker caught on fire. At one point, she encountered 20-foot waves. "I was worried the boat might capsize," she said. Spotz ate freeze-dried meals, munched on small plants she grew on board, and, according to the AP, dug into a watermelon as soon as she hit the shore in Guyana.
An absolutely astounding young lady!
