Cincinnati science teacher breaks record with solo row across Atlantic Ocean

(Image credit: Bryce Carlson Adventures via AP)

published 6 August 2018

If his students ask what he did on his summer vacation, Bryce Carlson will have quite the story.

Carlson, 37, is a high school science teacher from Cincinnati, Ohio. In late June, he set off on his own from St. John's, Newfoundland, in his 20-foot boat, Lucille, and on Saturday — 38 days, 6 hours, and 49 minutes later — he arrived at St. Mary's in the Isles of Scilly. Carlson rowed more than 2,000 miles from Canada to England, and the Ocean Rowing Society says he set a record for a solo west-to-east crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, smashing the previous record of 53 days, 8 hours, and 26 minutes.

Not only that, but he also is the first American to complete the journey, the Ocean Rowing Society said. It wasn't easy — Carlson's boat capsized multiple times, and he faced high waves and the tail end of a hurricane — but he told The Associated Press he feels like he had "a lot of luck along the way, and a lot of help. Help from my friends, my family, the community — from some higher power, I don't know."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox