Around the world on the indoor rower

More than two and a half years ago Great Britain’s David Holby took his first stroke in a bid to row the distance of the world – 40,075km – on the indoor rowing machine. On 18 December 2010 Holby stepped off the rowing machine. He had broken eight world records in the process, and, he says, he finished a changed man.

Holby, an actor, managed to continue working while he carried out his around the world bid. The majority of his row was done outside a Basingstoke, England shopping mall and his motivation came from his quest to fundraise for breast cancer.

As part of setting a Guinness World Record, Holby had to have his distance checked every time he rowed. The Mall security guards were often used.  He went through three Concept2 rowing machines and endured all of the elements and changing seasons.

On 28 May 2008 Holby started his mission. It took him 934 days and set the record as the fastest row around the distance of the world’s equator on a Concept2 rowing machine.

World Rowing talked to Holby about his two year, seven months of erging.

World Rowing: This is an incredible feat, where did this idea originally come from?

David Holby: I rowed and competed at university and absolutely loved it and the erg was a big part of our training. I can’t remember the number of times I would pass out after erging… I have done erging before with friends as a way of fundraising and I thought I could make this happen around my work as an actor.

I contacted the Guinness World Records to see if rowing the distance around the world on a rower had been done before. They created a new category for me. I wanted to raise money for breast cancer as I lost a good friend to it.

WR: Has anyone else attempted anything like this?

DH: As far as I know no one has done anything like it. I ended up setting eight new World Records in total.*

WR: How did you fit it around your work?

DH: Whenever work came up I would do it but normally I would try to row seven to seven and a half hours per day – that’s roughly 300km a week – about 60km per day. So if I was away for work I would have to make it up when I returned. At one point I had two months away so had to do a big catch up. A day would look something like this: start at 8am and row until about 1pm, then go to an audition in the afternoon. But the last couple of weeks were crazy as I wanted to finish before Christmas.

WR: What was your biggest day?

DH: It was probably when I set one of the eight records. I tried to set the fastest time for 1000km, so I did 100km per day for 10 days straight. That was September – October 2009. It felt awful, really grim and I was outside when it was particularly cold.

WR: Which record was the hardest?

DH: I think the longest continual tandem row. The old record was 72 hours, 17 minutes and we did 103 hours. With my good friend Ollie (Trinder) we took turns on the rower, two hours each except in the night when we did 12am – 4am and 4am – 8am, then back to two hours. I found it hard to eat much and I didn’t get much sleep. The sheer tiredness was tough.

WR: In one interview you said you were living off a diet of pasta, tuna and cheese. Tell me more about your diet.

DH: The hardest thing was to get enough calories in. I started out at nearly 12 stone (76kg) and dropped to 10.5 stone (66kg) in the first month. But then I got better. On average I’d eat more than 6000 calories per day. 

WR: Did you ever want to stop?

DH: Plenty of times! The worst one was just six days in. I was losing weight, I couldn’t eat enough, and I was constantly tired. I would just row, go home, fall asleep and dream about rowing. It was awful. But once I got through that, mentally it didn’t become easier, but I got used to it. I learnt to just break it down and chip away at the miles. I never felt good physically. I’d feel sorry for myself. But the challenge itself, I absolutely loved it and I’d recommend it to anyone.

WR: What was the reaction of people who would see you?

DH: The first few days I got the strangest looks from people. One person thought I was on community service as I had security guards watching me. One time a lovely lady came over and asked lots of questions then took out 50pence to go in the bucket. Then she asked when I was going to row around the world. I explained that this was it – virtual. She put her 50p back in her purse.

I had the typical cracks. ‘Have you hit any icebergs? Seen any mermaids…?’ Everyone thought they were saying the joke for the first time, rather than the fifteenth time that day.

WR: Now it’s finished do you ever want to see an erg again?

DH: I did a school visit recently and they asked me to bring the erg and I was asked to row. So I was back on it sooner than I thought. I will take a break and will then get back on. My knees, though, are sore.

During the row everything hurt every time I took a stroke. It was never easy.

*Holby’s World Records:
1. 100km tandem rowing world record – with Holby’s brother, Jonathan in a time of 7hr, 31min.
2. 24 hour tandem rowing world record – with James Burrows a combined distance of 312.7km.
3. Million metre rowing world record – lightweight world record for fastest million metre row, time 227 hours, 43 minutes.
4. Endurance rowing world record – lightweight world record for endurance rowing of 30 hours.
5. Continual rowing world record.
6. Million metre tandem rowing world record – with Ollie Trinder, time of 102 hours, 32 min.
7. Endurance tandem rowing world record – with Ollie Trinder in 103 hours.
8. Fastest time rowing around the equator (40,075km).

Link to Holby’s fundraiser for breast cancer: http://www.justgiving.com/WorldRecordRow 

The World Rowing team values feedback.