This Christmas, four adventurers – including former England Rugby 7s captain and Henley resident Ollie Phillips – will trade festive comforts for 3,000 nautical miles of open ocean as they take on The World’s Toughest Row, raising money for charities supporting people with life-changing conditions.
The extreme challenge, which begins on 12 December 2025 in La Gomera, Canary Islands, and ends in Antigua in the West Indies, is expected to take between 35 and 45 days. Along the way, rowers will face 20-foot waves, temperatures from 10°C to over 30°C, and the physical strain of burning 6,000 calories a day – losing up to 20kg before reaching land.
Team Seas Life includes Phillips – also a Guinness World Record holder – alongside seasoned adventurers Julian Evans, Tom Clowes, and Stu Kershaw, all of whom have summited Mount Everest. Together, the team will spend Christmas and New Year at sea, rowing continuously in shifts.
The team is fundraising for several charities close to their hearts, including the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, set up by the late rugby legend Doddie Weir, who died in 2022 following his Motor Neurone Disease (MND) diagnosis. Other beneficiaries include Cure Parkinson’s, The Clocktower Foundation, Shiplake Primary School, and The Matt Hampson Foundation, which supports young people seriously injured through sport.
Motor Neurone Disease and other neurological conditions have devastating effects, often linked to the long-term impacts of physical sport. Through their journey, the crew aims to raise awareness and vital funds for ongoing research and support.
Ollie Phillips, who now runs Optimist Performance, a leadership and resilience consultancy, said:
“This is going to be a superb challenge; I think probably the toughest thing that any of us have ever taken on before. But if we contrast that to some of the people that are impacted by the conditions that we’re raising awareness and money for, then it pales into an insignificance.
“Especially when you look at the mental fortitude of people like Matt Hampson, along with Lewis Moody, Ed Slater, Rob Burrows and Doddie Weir who have suffered, or continue to suffer, at the hands of Motor Neurone Disease.
“I am excited yet nervous about the whole experience, but then also grateful that I’m able to utilise my audience and community to do something extraordinary and to raise a lot of money for some incredible causes. That hopefully makes a massive impact when we get home.”
Donations can be made via: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/oliver-phillips-2.
