Imagine being alone in an ocean, at night, rowing for two hours and resting for another two, with the closest point of safety being another ship, which may well be an hour away.
Most people would not even try it for a big sum of money, but cancer survivor Thomas Cremona is not only doing it for free, he is attempting the trans-Atlantic world record for charity.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, before his flight tomorrow to Morocco from where the six-man boat will set off, Mr Cremona said the row would be as much a psychological challenge as it is physical.
“However, I am looking forward to how hard I can push both my mind and my body,” he said.
The statistics are not in his favour either, as there is only a 50 per cent chance of making it across successfully.
“We endeavour to ensure the record will be broken,” the excited 22-year old said.
If his mission is accomplished, Mr Cremona will be the first Maltese person to row across the Atlantic.
After arriving in Morocco, the team will meet face to face for the first time and will leave for Barbados early in January, with actual dates depending on weather conditions.
The current Mid-Atlantic Rowing Speed Record stands at 33 days, 7 hours and 30 minutes and was established in January 2008. The international team that Mr Cremona will form part of will be rowing in the Sara G, an 11.1 m boat.
They will be competing unofficially against each other in two teams – three rowing and three resting – to push their limits further. Since they have to carry all supplies with them, food intake will be based on expedition food packs consisting of different flavours of high energy rations.
The boat is also supplied with three desalination plants. However, there will also be some 60 litres of emergency water on board.
Mr Cremona is not one to shy away from challenges, having survived Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia with which he was diagnosed at the age of four. After several months of chemotherapy and years of regular medical check-ups, he was finally confirmed to be in remission. Now 22, he has made it his mission to convince others that “cancer can be part of your history but should not control your future”.
Through the Row4Cancer campaign, Mr Cremona hopes to raise money for Puttinu Cares, the charity for children with cancer.
Thanking his sponsors and encouraging people to donate to Puttinu Cares, Mr Cremona said that through Bettson, people will be able to bet on whether he will complete the challenge, with all proceeds going to the charitable foundation.
The young sportsman has other achievements under his belt: he has broken the Concept2 longest continual row world record, completed a LifeCycle challenge, a Malta marathon and a Gozo channel swim.
Once his new challenge gets underway, the team’s progress can be followed online by visiting http://system.marinetrack.com/eventviewer/?event=worldocean or http://worldoceanrowing.com/track-the-crew/ . Thomas will also be updating his blog at www.oceanrowmalta.com.
Profile
Thomas Cremona
Age: 22
Profession: accountant
Recent sporting achievements:
2006 – LifeCycle “Across the Arctic Circle”
2008 – Malta half-marathon
2009 – Malta marathon
2009 – Gozo-Malta swim
2010 – World record for Concept2 Longest Continual Row Individual Men 20-29 Heavyweight category