Sylvia Cook
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Sylvia Cook is a British
ocean rower Ocean rowing is the sport of rowing across oceans. Some ocean rowing boats can hold as many as fourteen rowers; however, the most common ocean rowboats are designed for singles, doubles, and fours. The history of ocean rowing is divided into two ...
and
adventurer An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...
who, on 22 April 1972, became the first person to row the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
, in tandem with
John Fairfax John Fairfax (24 October 1804 – 16 June 1877) was an English-born journalist, company director, politician, librarian and newspaper owner, known for the incorporation of the major newspapers of modern-day Australia. Early life Fairfax was bo ...
. With this accomplishment she became the first woman to row any ocean. The journey took 363 days at sea from
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.


Early life

Cook was born to a middle-class family, the daughter of a teacher and a secretary.


Pacific crossing

Cook and
John Fairfax John Fairfax (24 October 1804 – 16 June 1877) was an English-born journalist, company director, politician, librarian and newspaper owner, known for the incorporation of the major newspapers of modern-day Australia. Early life Fairfax was bo ...
started rowing for their cross-Pacific journey in San Francisco on 26 April 1971 in a specially designed tandem row boat called ''Britannia II'', a self-bailing, self uprighting vessel, designed by
Uffa Fox Uffa Fox CBE (15 January 1898 – 26 October 1972) was an English boat designer and sailing enthusiast, responsible for a number of innovations in boat design. Not afraid of courting controversy or causing offence, he is remembered for his ec ...
.


Later life

Cook works for B&Q in Surrey, UK, where most of her co-workers had no idea she had rowed across the Pacific Ocean.


References

Ocean rowers British female rowers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-rowing-bio-stub