Five Irish oarsmen, who had never previously rowed competitively, have finished third in a transatlantic rowing race, raising funds in honour of a Dublin teenager who died last year.
The Power of One team completed the 5,000km race in 39 days, 14 hours and 31 minutes, securing third place by just over two hours from a British team. This despite one of the crew sustaining broken ribs in the final days and being unable to row.
The crew were met by a small group of Irish supporters as they arrived shortly before midnight on Sunday in English Harbour on the Caribbean island of Antigua. Among those present were Aoife O’Driscoll, and 11-year-old Riain O’Driscoll, the mother and brother of Saoirse O’Driscoll (13), from Lucan, Co Dublin, who died last year of a congenital heart condition.
Saoirse’s father John O’Driscoll was one of the five crew members who raced her memory. Over €400,000 has also been raised to date by the crew for children’s heart charities.
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The team had departed from the Canary Islands in a contest described as the “world’s toughest row”.
In 2019, Mr O’Driscoll ran the Dublin marathon accompanied by his daughter, who participated in a wheelchair, to raise funds for national charity Heart Children Ireland. It made him think about taking on another challenge.
“One of my colleagues had given me a book about rowing the Atlantic,” he said. “I felt it had a synergy with Saoirse, who faced lots of challenges every day.
“I thought it would be a lovely way to demonstrate to my own two kids that if you put your mind to something, you can do it. It also let me see through Saoirse’s eyes for a short period of time, to see how tough and difficult her life was.”
In 2022, Mr O’Driscoll assembled a team to take part in the race – all father who were keen to support the cause. The other four were also endurance athletes. Roger McMorrow had climbed Everest. Daragh Kelly, Conor McCarthy and Enda McNicholas had taken part in extreme events such as the Marathon du Sable.
They trained hard, on the Irish Sea and in the gym. In February 2024, Saoirse’s condition deteriorated. In April she was put on the emergency heart transplant list, but died only four days later.
In the midst of grief, Mr O’Driscoll said he was unsure whether the team should continue with their plan.
“One night [his wife] Aoife said to me: ‘You started this journey with her. I’d like you to finish it for her.’”
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