The team
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Lizz Watson
Translator and Editor, Cardiff
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Kit Windsor
Project Manager, Bristol
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Laura Langton
Investment Manager, Cheltenham
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Beth Motley
Communications Consultant, Cheltenham
Lizz Watson
As a teenager I was excruciatingly shy, lacked confidence and hadn’t really found my footing in life. At 16, my school offered a scholarship for a pupil to attend an Outward Bound course of their choosing. Without telling anyone, even my parents, I applied and won it, and that summer completed a 3-week trek around west-coast Scotland.
I returned from that trip a different person, having found some confidence and things I was good at. It was also the start of my journey to overcoming some important issues. I developed a love of hiking, kayaking, rowing and long-distance running, and I came to understand that pushing myself with big challenges is how I grow as a person.
When asked if I would take join Ace of Blades I said I would think about it but really, I knew it was a yes straightaway. Preparing for this challenge requires so much work, but I need to make myself do things I wouldn’t normally, and to take myself out of my comfort zone. Even better, this challenge requires a lot of time on the water – my favourite place to be!
Macmillan and Prostate Cymru have supported friends and family over the years and it’s important to support their work for others who might need it. As for Outward Bound, I simply want to pay it forward: to help as many young people as possible experience what I did, and to find out who they can be. #morethanyouthink
Kit Windsor
I am so excited to be involved in Ace of Blades and to be taking part in the Atlantic Challenge. It's been on my bucket list for years and I remember having a conversation with my dad and saying “I’m going to do it”. His response was, “Maybe when you’re 30!” – well, here I am!
I've always been pretty adventurous but this challenge will take the biscuit. I feel like my family have sometimes questioned where I came from! After university, I bobbed around the Ionian Sea for a couple of years working as a skipper, which was incredible and fuelled my need to be surrounded by water.
I adore being on and around the sea. Although the thought of spending anywhere between 30 and 60 days in a 25ft ocean rowing boat mildly terrifies me, I also cannot wait to be there and be surrounded by the big blue.
The charities we have chosen are guiding lights for people and having the opportunity to raise money for them is incredible.
I am looking forward to the challenge of getting to the start line, physically and mentally, as well as the row, and just to be outside of my comfort zone. I can’t wait for people to follow our journey, to have a once-in-a-life-time experience with three other amazing humans, and to raise as much as possible for charity.
Laura Langton
I wouldn't say I am adventurous, and quite frankly the thought of being at sea for over a month scares me A LOT. However, I am always up for a challenge and ready to try to push the boundaries of what I think I can achieve. I've done a few half marathons and the Ride London 100, but the World’s Toughest Row - Atlantic will a whole new level for me.
I met Kit through our university boat club, and when she shared a message looking for another crew member for the challenge I knew I would get massive FOMO if I didn't stick my hand up. I then spoke to my boyfriend, family and my boss and they were all very encouraging and supportive, so I knew I had to go for it.
I'm excited for the journey we are embarking on, and am very proud to be raising money for three worthy causes. Macmillan in particular have supported family and friends and I am in awe of the work that they do, so I am driven to raise as much as possible for them.
Beth Motley
In early 2022 I ventured to a friend that I thought I had an Atlantic row in me. Expecting laughter, the response blew me away: “Of all the people I know, it's you I'd back every time to do it. Got your name all over it. Back yourself. Don't just say it. Do it. Make it bloody happen, Beth”.
An initial conversation with team member Laura in March about where to start only added fuel to the fire. But the world moves in mysterious ways and that chat proved serendipitous. Months later, I received a message that simply read, “Beth, a space has opened up on the team. Might you be interested?”
There was only ever going to be one response: YES!
The excuses for not doing this come easy, age and risk being the first two that come to mind. But age is inevitable, and I don’t want to be one year older, having not done something and likely still chewing it over.
I want to do this row for the peace you get when you have one driving focus, with no peripheral noise, no distraction. Just that one steadfast, immutable framework to operate within. The simplicity of having one clear goal: row, get enough cals on board, rest and pull together as a team. Oh, and make sure we're heading in the right direction!
My qualifications for doing this? None. I ran distance, know my way around a gym, paddleboard and surf. None of these guarantee that getting in a boat with three other women to row 3000 miles is a sane and logical thing to do. A sensible thing to do is assess whether I have the mindset to grind this out and get through. I think I do.
When we reach Antigua I hope that we have done ourselves justice, that we have dealt with whatever the ocean throws at us together and that, as a four, we would do it again. I want to show my kids that they should let everything happen to them, ‘beauty and terror’, and to just keep going. Here's hoping the ‘god, mum, you're just a bit embarrassing' evolves into a quiet nod of acknowledgement and a fist bump somewhere along the way.