UAE duo ready to tackle world’s toughest row

Professional triathlete Omar Nour, left, and adventurer Omar Samra will use the UAE as their base while training for the Atlantic Challenge, dubbed the world's toughest row. Courtesy O2

Two UAE-based athletes are preparing to take on the world’s toughest row, a journey so difficult that fewer people have conquered it than space or Mount Everest.

Adventurer Omar Samra and professional triathlete Omar Nour will row 5,000 nautical kilometres, unsupported, as part of the Atlantic Challenge rowing race, leaving from the Canary Islands on December 12 bound for Antigua.

Samra, who was the first Egyptian to climb Mt Everest and the Seven Summits (the highest mountain on each continent), and ski to both the North and South poles, says he was looking for a new challenge after completing the Seven Summits in 2013.

“The idea of completing a human-powered ocean-crossing always intrigued me, but I knew that this was one perilous adventure I couldn’t do alone. I immediately started looking for a team mate – it takes a certain kind of person to keep going when faced with 50-foot waves, blisters, salt rash, sharks and sleep deprivation. When an injury side-lined Omar [Nour] from the Rio 2016 Olympics, I knew I’d found my man.”

Nour represents Egypt on the Olympic triathlon circuit and has been labelled the fastest Arabic-speaking triathlete in the world. Together the two Omars are dubbed O2.

“Our personalities are worlds apart – his contagious energy and winning attitude complements my calm demeanor and ability to deal with high pressure situations. Together, we make a formidable team,” Samra adds.

Formidable is what the two friends will need to be. Once they leave dry land, they will be completely alone at the mercy of the ocean and the elements. And to help them prepare for the mammoth task ahead, Samra and Nour will not only need to train their minds and bodies, they’ll also need to become serious rowers.

“While Omar [Samra] and I are accomplished in mountaineering and triathlon, when it comes to rowing an ocean, we’re starting from scratch. In fact, we had never been in a rowing boat until a month ago,” Nour says. “But we’re both firm believers that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. It’s refreshing to try something completely new – to test the limit of our physical and mental strength and to achieve something unthinkable. We want to defy our limits, and inspire the world to do the same.” And, if they successfully complete the crossing, they will be the first Arab team to row across an ocean.

The first successful Atlantic Ocean crossing was completed by Sir Chay Blyth and John Ridgeway in 1966. It was a 92-day battle against hurricanes, 50-foot waves and near starvation. Thankfully for Samra and Nour, boats have advanced a lot since that inaugural crossing. O2’s vessel is approximately 7.5 metres long and 1.8 metres wide, and is built of wood, fibreglass, carbon fibre and Kevlar.

It will be capable of converting seawater into drinking water and have solar panels to power the GPS and other vital electrical equipment. The team will have 90 days’ worth of food rations stored in the small cabin, along with first-aid kits, tracking beacons and communications devices.

Samra and Nour will use the UAE as their base as they prepare for the journey and aim to row 1,600 nautical kilometres during training.

“When we signed up for the Atlantic crossing, there was no doubt in my mind that the UAE was the best place to prepare – the weather, the facilities, the stunning coastline are just three factors that will make this gruelling task that much more enjoyable,” says Nour.

They also have their sights set on toppling the world record for pairs rowing the Atlantic Ocean – 40 days, 4 hours and 3 minutes.