Dr Karen Weekes has become the first Irish woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
Kilkenny native Weekes entered the water in Gran Canaria on 6 December before arriving in Barbados on Thursday, February 24, some 80 days later.
The college lecturer rowed an astonishing 3,000 miles in her vessel, Millie, named after her mother.
A large crowd gathered at the pier in Bridgetown in Barbados to congratulate her, including 30 of her family and friends who flew over for the occasion.
After making history, Dr Weekes said: "This is just incredible, and it was an amazing crossing.
"It was much longer than we thought. I thought it would be maybe 70 days, I actually thought personally it would take me 64, but the trade winds didn’t come in so I had an awful lot of battling of waves all the time.
"So it was a long haul and I have slept for an hour and a half over the last three days , and it has just been rowing non-stop ever since."
Sports psychologist Weekes is only the 20th woman globally to have rowed an ocean on her own.
But her latest achievement is one of a long line of endurance feats, including cycling solo across Canada, and circumnavigating Ireland by Kayak.
Before setting on the mammoth challenge, she said: “I’ve done a lot of endurance journeys before this, so this [was] really the next logical step for me - a feat of endurance to try and push myself mentally and physically further.”
Now living in Kinvara, Galway, Weekes had her trials along the way, with heavy storms and a broken rudder just some of the obstacles.
If the weather was kind to her, Weekes would spend up to 16 hours rowing a day before getting some rest in the boat's small cabin.
Her main source of energy was dry food made using desalinated water on board.
Weekes wants to use her achievement to inspire other women to try endurance sports.
Starting the #SHECANDO2021 campaign, Weekes said: “When I was cycling across Canada, I was looking up other female solo cyclists who had crossed Canada.
"I thought I would relate better to seeing how a female coped with it. There really wasn’t many.
“I think having somebody who has done it before makes it easier for other women so my plan, as part of the SHECANDO campaign, is to provide a platform for other girls and women to do things that push them outside their comfort zone.”
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