Atlantic Team Challenge
Richard Duncan
Organisational Change Agent & Specialist in solving tough business problems that make the World a better place
“Very few areas of your life give so much satisfaction (as rowing). There is something special about doing something difficult together and achieving an outcome by doing it together.”
Rob Wells, crew member of the Shaw & Partners Team
What started as a casual chat amongst mates two years ago has now led to this group of school friends taking on the herculean challenge of rowing 3000 miles/4800 kms across the Atlantic.
Rob Wells, Sam Horsley, James Samuels and Louis High-Jones are the fabulous (some would say crazy!) four Australians who have signed up to sign up for the world’s toughest row, the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, a premier event in ocean rowing.
The Event
This annual race begins in early December with up to 30 teams taking part from across the world. The route they take from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antiqua & Barbuda and last year took crews between 32 to 73 days of non-stop rowing to complete!
This is a competition dominated by European teams, notably from the UK with a smattering of others from South Africa and the USA. And since 2015, there have been less than a handful of Australian crews, making the Shaw & Partners Aussie crew a rare breed indeed.
The Challenge
Here’s some interesting and fun facts about this event shared by the event organisers:
-??????Each team will row more than 1.5 million oar strokes over a race.
-??????Rowers will row for 2 hours, and sleep for 2 hours, constantly, 24 hours a day.
-??????More people have climbed Everest than rowed an ocean.
-??????Over €6million has been raised for charities worldwide over the past 4 races.
-??????The waves the rowers will experience can measure up to 20ft high.
-??????Each rower is expected to use 800 sheets of toilet paper during their crossing.
-??????Each rower needs to aim to consume 10?litres?of water per day.
-??????Rowers burn more than 5,000 calories per day. (Rob and his team are planning an intake of 6,000 - 7,000 calories per day!)
-??????There is no toilet on board – rowers use a bucket!
-???????Each rower loses on average 12kg crossing the Atlantic!
The Team
This Australian crew is a close-knit team with a 10-year track record together in their formative years and is no stranger to rowing. All four members of the Shaw & Partners team have rowed together for some time, at Sydney Rowing Club, at high school (Rob, Sam & James at Shore and Louis at Riverview – Rob was Captain of Shore and Louis Captain of Riverview) and at Cal Berkley (Sam & Louis). They are also all members of the North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club and three share a place together. In short, they know each other well and this shines through in their team spirit and the way they work seamlessly together. It also suggests that they should do well in the Atlantic Challenge.
As a group very familiar with competition, stress and pressure, they have a great deal of experience to lean on for their journey. Rob references the way that Shore won the Australian National Championships School Boy 8 finals in their final year at school, where they beat their legendary and historically dominant Scotch House rivals by a length after finishing the race at a punishing rate of never under 40 strokes a minute. That stroke rate is higher than many of the Olympic teams in Tokyo this week. This memory serves as proof of what they can do when they must. I suspect that at some point on their journey across the Atlantic they will call on those memories to fortify their resolve when facing big waves, blisters, sore backs and bad weather.
“Enduring and overcoming hardship as a team breeds confidence in one another, which gives an unparalleled level of satisfaction once the job is complete.”
Rob Wells, crew member of the Shaw & Partners Team
?Shared Goals
Rob cited a previous Atlantic Challenge and a documentary about a famous UK pair (James Cracknell and Ben Fogel) whose goals were not aligned and how this resulted in continual friction, as an example of what he and his teammates don’t want.
Not surprisingly the crew have a shared goal of how they want to compete in this particular race. Surprisingly though, it’s not about where they finish but how they finish. As safety is their primary concern, it’s about all getting to the finish line and not putting anyone at risk en route.
Making the crossing safely and putting the racing secondary is a significant mental shift for all of them. After years of competitive rowing where the final outcome across the finish line and their race time & position were all that mattered, the Shaw & Partners Team now view the Atlantic Challenge as a life experience that will bring the closer together and that the experience will trump over winning and any race position.
Another thing that they all share is a love hate relationship with rowing. Hating the early starts especially on rough weather days, but loving the satisfaction after crossing the line. Their shared experience of unforgiving training, tough race schedules and many hours on the water have also served to unite them with the gift of shared learnings and a common outlook on life – that you need to grit your teeth when things are tough and stick in the fight together. This principle and approach to life has served them all well, helped them grow, taught them the value of hardships and the importance of showing up when you don’t want to.
For them, according to Rob, rowing has fostered a stronger sense of self-belief, taught and shown them the value of persistence over talent and set the foundation that achievements and indeed the impossible is possible with hard work. Rob accredits rowing as the most “influential part of his education over academia” and schooled him in the lesson of ‘persistence and teamwork’. He also paid tribute to Sydney High School and their determination despite persistently trailing in rowing regattas as this is not an easy sport to do if you don’t see the results and is thus a resilience builder or killer.
Defined Roles
One of the things that most impressed me about the crew was the way they have collaboratively and practically divided the responsibilities. Whilst they have played to their individual strengths, they all strike me as jacks of all trades and master of many.
Preparation
As the saying goes ‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.’
The team have gone to great lengths to prepare ,which started with consulting past race participants. Much like Everest expeditions, the significant time spent in the preparatory stages can make all the difference when you finally get onto the water. They have already been planning this journey for two years, a journey that could be completed within a month. Rob went to great pains to point out that the biggest part of their preparation was all the admin and paperwork required.
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Having a Higher Purpose
One of the great aspects of this Atlantic Challenge is that every team needs to support a charity and raise funds for them. For the Shaw & Partners team, they chose Gotcha4Life, the mental health charity founded by Gus Worland whose vision is a future with zero suicides. This charity with its motto “Don’t worry alone” was a natural choice as mental health seemed like the right fit and something all four had noticed playing out in their worlds amongst their peers five years out of school.
Their association with Gotcha4Life facilitates greater attention to the topic of mental health and gives a voice for young men who may be struggling in this area. As someone who shares their passion for promoting discussions about mental health, I feel that Rob, Sam, Louis and James are worthy ambassadors for this cause and that the struggles involved in their Atlantic Odyssey serves as an apt metaphor for the mental health battle faced by many Australians.
Their secret Ingredient
Having witnessed some of what I understand are their typical interactions and team characteristics when I first came across the crew before lockdown at the jetty at Clifton Gardens, it was clear that this team has a secret ingredient, or magic potion if you are an Asterix & Obelisk fan.
In their case, it’s not made in a cauldron by a druid, but something that has been forged over their thousands of hours together at school (and boarding school for Sam & Rob) and on the water during their formative years.
The magic potion is ‘humour’. These are very close friends who are constantly making fun of themselves and each other. No egos, just fun. This is in effect the Anzac spirit and I have a feeling that it will carry them far on their Atlantic crossing.
Having the right support
As with any business, no team can operate without the right funding and support. Thanks to the generosity and support of their title sponsor Shaw & Partners and sponsors Gunlake Concrete and Agtrade, the crew have made a big dent on their fundraising $250,000 target and the more then can raise above that figure, the more they will be able to give to Gotcha4Life.
Rob shared the way the local community has got behind them. He gave one particular example that got my attention, which was when the CEO of florists Mr Roses heard their story, he donated after Valentine’s Day this year 1,000 rose stems to their cause. The crew’s family and friends responded to the call to help them sell these and between them they raised over $35,000. For me, this showcased the fact that a good team is more than the athletes, but extends to their partners, families, friends and colleagues. Mobilising this type of support is testament to the spirit of their team.
8 Key Learnings
Rob identified the following key attributes that he believes the Shaw & Partners team have that will carry them well into the Atlantic Challenge:
1.????Aligned expectations of what they want to get out of participating – wanting an experience rather than a race.
2.????The importance of breaking big goals down to tangible and achievable portions as goals that are too lofty can challenge morale and erode self-belief.
3.????Feed of their river rowing experience.
4.????The wisdom to not hold on to everything and outsource certain tasks to members of the family and friends.
5.????The importance of this Anzac spirit and the principle of having your mate’s back.
6.????Trust and understanding that has been forged over 10 years of friendship.
7.????Being driven by a sense of humour and having an attitude of friendly banter, enjoying each other’s company and making the most of the experience so it proves enjoyable even when they are experiencing physical hardship.
8.????A culture of being united in defeat as united in Victory.
There are some great learnings and behaviours that business leaders could make good use of in running their own teams.
“A lot is unknown and there are still lessons to be learnt, but one thing for certain is that it (the experience) will bring us even closer together.”
Rob Wells, crew member of the Shaw & Partners Team
Lending your Support
If you’d like to find out more about this incredible crew of determined young Australians, then visit their website at:
To help them reach their financial goal, please donate at:
and follow them in their preparation and during the journey across the Atlantic itself at:
And for more information on the charity Gotcha4Life please visit:
Special thanks to their title sponsor:
-??????Shaw & Partners
And thanks to other key sponsors:
-??????Gunlake Concrete
-??????Agtrade
And thanks to James Stevens of MR Roses for his generous donation of 1,000 roses and Piers Haskard for the free use of the great drone/aerial images he took.