A sporting achievement
Stéphanie Barneix, Alexandra Lux, Emmanuelle Bescheron, Itziar Abascal, Marie Goyeneche and Margot Calvet: these six women have just achieved the incredible feat of crossing the world's largest ocean by paddle, on a simple paddle board.
Rowing daily for 4 hours each, day and night, these waterwomen did not give up. During these multiple weeks of crossing, the conditions were sometimes hostile. Apart from the bad weather, they had to fight against the rain, the heat, but also cohabit with the fauna of the Pacific.
Many jellyfish stings had to be treated, and we had to deal with the curiosity of the sharks, as Alexandra explains:
"Constantly, we had to adapt, to the sea and wind conditions that changed every day, even at each relay. At the beginning of March, we had several days with a big head swell and a headwind. The relays were physically and morally difficult. We had to be persevering, patient and determined during all the time necessary to achieve the project. To question ourselves, to be patient, determined, to have a taste for effort, collective work, humor, perseverance, without all that, we could not have succeeded. "
A human adventure for a good cause
This feat was achieved to benefit the association Hope Team East, whose project is to support through sport, children in treatment or post-treatment against cancer.
The association's objective is to equip 9 care centers and health establishments with a sports totem that will allow them to maintain an adapted physical activity in the hospital. The one installed in the presence of the Cap Optimist expedition team at the pediatric ward of the Tahiti Hospital Center is in addition to those already installed at the Pellegrin Hospital Center (in Bordeaux), at the Bayonne Hospital Center with the Hau Eri association, and at the Entre Parenthèses association, in Mont-de-Marsan. Others are in the process of being set up, notably in the pediatric department of the Mont-de-Marsan hospital or are being considered, notably in Marseille (Sourire à la Vie association), Toulouse (hospital center) or even at the Necker hospital in Paris.
The association also accompanies between 10 and 15 children and teenagers, the "Super Optimists", to help them achieve their challenge, such as a cycling challenge, riding a horse, or doing a family raid.
A magical arrival
It is accompanied by many boats that the waterwomen landed on the beach of Temae, in Moorea.
Welcomed by their families, children and friends, the emotion was as strong and intense as the feat they achieved. Children from the Teavaro de Moorea schools, sick children and women in remission from cancer had also come to honor the rowers, but also the crew of the assistance catamaran.
Stéphanie Barneix explains:
"This is the culmination of a fantastic multi-year project. There were ups and downs, but we managed to create a group that believed in us. The departure in Lima and the arrival in Moorea were emotional and impressive moments. There were difficult moments, but we always found solutions to move forward, thanks to the solidarity on the boat. We are so happy for all those who worked on the project. It is a mixture of emotion, satisfaction, and the end of something. We're going to go back to a normal life, it's not easy, but we're going to readjust."
And Margot Calvet adds:
"The preparation work for the expedition paid off. We had to go to the end of ourselves, sometimes facing our fears, and I managed to enjoy it. The silence, the starry skies, the moments of confidence with the crew... I came out of the project as a grown-up. I learned a lot with the girls, but the most beautiful reward is to have been able to inspire other people. I hope that people who are fighting the disease are proud of us, the Optimists deserve this crossing."
This incredible feat should be approved by the Guinness World Records very soon. After a short rest, our rowers will tell their feat to the schoolchildren of Punaa'ia and Moorea, before going to the Cancer Institute of French Polynesia (ICPF).
