Sylvia Cook Explained

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

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]

Notes and References

1. News: Stanford . Peter . 26 February 2012 . Sylvia Cook: I rowed the high seas for love . . London, UK . 22 May 2015.
2. Web site: Sylvia Cook . 2004 . The Ocean Rowing Society . 22 May 2015 . Sylvia became the first woman to row an ocean..
3. Web site: The pensioner next door who rowed across an ocean for love . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-pensioner-next-door-who-rowed-across-an-ocean-for-love-7441165.html . 26 May 2022 . subscription . live. Simon . Usborne . 27 February 2012 . . London, UK . 22 May 2015.