A Gateshead submariner has completed the world's toughest row as part of a team of four in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.
Lieutenant Commander Tom Hutchinson, 31, of Ryton, was part of HMS Oardacious rowing 3,000 miles unsupported from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to English Harbour in Antigua. The team arrived at their final destination at 1:06am local time and in doing so became the fastest serving military team ever to row across the Atlantic with a time of 35 days, 17 hours and 19 minutes.
Originally undertaken by a team of Royal Navy submariners in 2019, it was intended as a one-off event to raise money for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity. However, after the Covid pandemic highlighted isolation and mental health challenges, a different team of four submariners will take part in the challenge each year, with the first all women's team due to row in 2024 - just 13 years after a ban on female submariners was lifted.
