Pembridge man taking part in rowing race (From Hereford Times)

Oliver Levick is taking part in rowing challenge from Canary Islands to Barbados

9:00am Monday 23rd January 2012 in News

A PEMBRIDGE man is taking part in a rowing race hailed as the toughest in the world.

Oliver Levick is part of “Team Epoch”, a four person crew that is trying to row 2,250 miles from the Canary Islands to Barbados.

The team set off on December 5 and hopes to finish in Georgetown on February 5.

“He’s not a rower at all, he’s more of a downhill mountain biker,”

said Oliver’s grandmother Pat Levick.

“He went on a school reunion and one of his friends said he was taking part in the Atlantic Challenge and asked him if he wanted to join him.”

Seventeen boats started and so far one has sunk, another needed rescuing while four have pulled out, proving the difficulty of the test.

But Oliver has carried on despite some awful weather and at the moment is, according to his gran, among “pond whales and jellyfish”.

Oliver, 25, now lives in the United States but went back to his gran’s to stock up on dried fruit to put on the boat.

To follow Oliver’s progress, visit talisker whiskeyatlantic challenge.com/team/ team-epoch.