Devon adventurer and friends ‘smash’ rowing world record to spark mental health conversations

An endurance athlete from Devon and his friends have “smashed” a rowing world record to raise awareness about men's mental health.

Isaac Kenyon rowed with two teammates, Graham Moore and Alex Pierrot, continuously for 30 hours, in one-hour rotations using a single indoor rowing machine.

They said rowing inside in the same spot represents the feeling many people have of being trapped in their minds.

The trio beat the previous record for the longest continual lightweight, indoor rowing world record for a small male-only team aged 20-29, which stood at 26 hours.

They shared how they have overcome mental health struggles, including depression, which compelled them to take on the row.

Isaac Kenyon, 29, was the first rower. He said: “It was incredible to be able to create such momentum around the story of mental health and the rowing was amazing, but it was more about the meaning behind it.

“It was also special to do the row with my two friends, who haven’t really done a continuous row like this before, but I was really pleased to see them just absolutely smash it out of the park.”

Alex Pierrot added he felt a “massive sense of accomplishment” after reaching the finish line. “So many people came to support us physically in the gym – a lot of coworkers, family, friends, all three of our partners stayed with us all the way through the night, they were really our rocks.

“A lot of people supported us online too and I really enjoyed how many conversations we had throughout the 30 hours and beforehand, from people opening up about their mental health issues and asking us for advice," he said.

Alex said the group “smashed” the fundraising target for Movember around halfway through, so had to double it.

Isaac added: “It was so much more that just three guys doing a row, it was about unifying around a message that is so transferrable – that through difficult times, if you have a great support network, you can get through them.”

He said one of the trickiest things to contend with was rowing during the night, when “your body’s telling you, why are you on this rowing machine at 2am? You should be asleep”.

Alex said he tried various techniques – including listening to a book and closing his eyes – to keep his focus on the record.

Graham Moore got to row for hour 15 – the halfway mark – and said from there “the only way was up” and at one stage he found the energy to do some star jumps.

Despite the challenge coming to an end, the group hopes conversations about mental health continue.

Alex said: “I want to inspire people to see that even if you have mental health issues – that’s not the end. We’ve all had them on the team and look at what we’ve just achieved as a group.”

Isaac added: “We’ve always tried to share our stories about our mental health when we have been going through the difficult times, as that is when it is most important to seek help.

“I worry about the quiet ones – the ones who (we) may not know have issues – and we would really love it if those people could find the courage to open up like we did as things will get better.”

Find out more about their challenge here.