Tough Girl Podcast Victoria Evans - Guinness World Record Holder, Fastest Female to Solo Row the Atlantic, Sports Lawyer and Advocate for Women In Sport
Victoria is an ambassador for UK charity 'Women in Sport'. Having developed a love of adventure in her late twenties, she progressed from running and cycling to summits of Mont Blanc, Gran Paradiso and Kilimanjaro.
In March 2022 she became the fastest female to solo row 2,559 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, finishing in 40 days, 21 hours and 1 minute and knocking 8.5 days off the previous Guinness World Record.
Outside of adventure, Victoria is a sports and media lawyer with over ten years of experience practising in both the UK and Switzerland. Having held roles in both European and Olympic federations, as well as commercial media organisations, she focuses on the development and negotiation of sports sponsorship and licensing, media creation and distribution, and sports governance. She uses her legal training to tackle gender equality in sport, securing the first written pregnancy deferral policy of an organised race in February 2022 when Ironman agreed to collaborate, and now focusing heavily on safeguarding.
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Show Notes
- Who is Victoria
- Woking as a commercial lawyer
- Being based in London
- Growing up in the countryside in Yorkshire
- Not being interested in sports as a young age
- Getting into fitness in her mid/late 20s
- Deciding to become a lawyer
- Wanting to become financially secure
- Training in Manchester and working long hours
- Moving to Switzerland and getting into the outdoor lifestyle
- Doing her first (and only) triathlon
- Getting into climbing mountains
- Where the dream to row the Atlantic Ocean came from
- Wanting to make a change
- Doing work with UN Women
- Doing research into ocean rowing
- The reasons behind the challenge
- Being inspired by the women on the tough girl podcast
- The practical steps taken to make the dream a reality
- Having to quit her job to take on the ocean row
- Taking a leap of faith and finding a way to make it happen
- Connecting with Women in Sport
- Sorting out the basics
- Rannoch Adventures
- Securing her title sponsor at the end of 2019
- Sitting her ocean rowing exams in Feb 2020
- Going into lockdown in March 2020
- Planning to go in 2021 and needing to postpone to 2022
- Dealing with new challenges and setbacks
- Deciding to go freelance as a lawyer
- Dealing with the stress before getting to the start line
- Having a fantastic support network
- The start of the challenge
- Structure on the boat?!
- The challenges while on the boat
- The magical moments while out on the water
- Focusing on the good
- What are you doing? Why are you here?
- The mental side of the row
- Having no let up at all
- Needing to be the one to fix every problem and every issue
- Getting through the tough days
- Making history and breaking records
- Not wanting to do another adventure at this level
- Wanting to help and support athletes with safeguarding issues
- Looking after her own mental health
- Taking a break from exercise and fitness
- How to connect with Victoria
- The importance of knowing your why and why you are passionate about it
- Back yourself
- Listening to multiple episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast
Social Media
Website www.seachangesport.com
Instagram @seachangesport