John Fairfax and Sylvia Cook in 1968

Sylvia Cook is a British ocean rower and adventurer who, on 22 April 1972, became the first person to row the Pacific Ocean, in tandem with John Fairfax.[1] With this accomplishment she became the first woman to row any ocean.[2] The journey took 363 days at sea from San Francisco to Australia.

Early life

Cook was born to a middle-class family, the daughter of a teacher and a secretary.[3]

Pacific crossing

External audio
audio icon Sylvia Cook, 12:42, Avaunt podcast[4]
audio icon John Fairfax and Sylvia Cook, 43:05, WNYC[5]

Cook and John Fairfax 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.[2]

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.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Stanford, Peter (26 February 2012). "Sylvia Cook: I rowed the high seas for love". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Sylvia Cook". The Ocean Rowing Society. 2004. Retrieved 22 May 2015. Sylvia became the first woman to row an ocean.
  3. 1 2 Usborne, Simon (27 February 2012). "The pensioner next door who rowed across an ocean for love". The Independent. London, UK. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Sylvia Cook". Avaunt. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "John Fairfax and Sylvia Cook". WNYC. 1973. Retrieved 31 October 2016.


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