From a young age, Taryn Smith was drawn to explore. In a school essay, she once wrote that if she could go anywhere in the world, it would be to the middle of an ocean. This December, that’s exactly where she’ll be, as the first American woman to solo attempt the Atlantic race of the World’s Toughest Row, a global event in ocean rowing. The race attracts teams and solo racers from around the world with the extraordinary objective of crossing an ocean in a rowing boat, unsupported and pitted against Mother Nature. The crossing is 3,000 miles of fierce and unpredictable Atlantic Ocean, racing from San Sebastian de La Gomera, Spain, to paradise in Nelson’s Dockyard, Antigua. The nearest land is five miles beneath you.
But this is only the latest escapade in an ongoing bent for adventure that this 24-year-old sixth-generation Nebraskan lusts for. While in college, she was introduced to Idaho through a friend who hailed from Boise. It was love at first sight. Here, she found kindred spirits pursuing adventure. Smith moved to the Sawtooth Mountains at the first opportunity after college.
“I was so happy I couldn’t stop smiling,” Smith said of her Idaho introduction. Now, Smith works fulltime for Redfish Lake Lodge Resort near Stanley, as Staff Developer, HR and General Store Manager, and seasonal yoga instructor. “I love Nebraska with all my heart; it will always be my home, but it’s not a very adventurous place,” she said. “Adventure is something I must self-select.”
When Smith read a Vogue Magazine article about women who had completed the World’s Toughest Row Pacific Ocean race, her initial thought was, ‘who wouldn’t want to do that?’ Not able to connect with a team for the Pacific race, she pivoted to going solo on the Atlantic. She paid the 2025 race deposit while enroute to exploring Patagonia, a week after running the 2022 New York City Marathon. She had never even rowed before. A year later, about to depart for Antarctica from a small town in Argentina (part of her quest to set foot on every continent), she had her first call with the UK boat builders.
Smith signed on to this unparalleled endeavor without prior rowing experience—only a love of adventure, endurance sports, and spending time on the water. Throughout the race, she will row in continuous two-hour shifts, totaling more than 1.5 million oar strokes, battling sleep deprivation, social isolation, and physical extremes, subsisting mainly on hi-caloric dehydrated meals and snack items. Depending on weather and the ability to navigate, the journey could take her anywhere from 60-90 days.
Her racing vessel is a 24’ ocean-rowing speed boat built by Rannoch, builder of the world’s fastest and most reliable boats with a 100% safety record. A forward cabin incorporates a sleeping/navigation area and a rear cabin holds storage with the row deck optimized for comfort and speed. They are designed to self-right after capsizing—inevitable with 40’ rogue waves—but rowers are always strapped in with a harness. She will invariably have to manage multiple equipment failures like replacing broken oar gates or a rudder, and jump overboard to clean the hull of barnacles. Occasionally she’ll have company, like a passing cargo ship or sailing yacht, killer whales or sea turtles.
Smith began her land-based training in September 2023, via online workouts with Gus Barton, an expert ocean-rowing performance coach and renowned personal trainer in the UK. She’s also completed the World’s Toughest Row course requirements of navigation, sea survival, and weather routing, and while in England, honed her newfound skill on a small coastal skull.
Preparations continue throughout the remainder of 2025, as Smith spends time in the UK living on and training in the R25 boat, gaining confidence and executing her own outings. In September, the boat ships to La Gomera and she arrives in November.
But the success of any ocean row lies in partnerships with sponsors. The boat is essentially a billboard at sea for national press coverage, so garnering sponsorships has been key. Smith is also partnering with Girls on the Run, a nonprofit that inspires girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using an experience-based curriculum. Each rower is equipped with a cell phone, so Smith will be able to communicate with family and supporters, and provide race updates via social media.
Smith’s ocean row is a desire to live boldly, learn new skills, and take big risks. What seems like a crazy, absurd venture is exactly why she loves this newfound sport. But is she scared? “I want to be scared about something that’s actually scary. I’ve traveled and had a lot of crazy adventures, and this row is the only thing I could think of that really scares me,” she said. “I want to push through that. I know I will never regret doing it.”
@tarynsmithmovement
