NOVICE: Pam Dickson has only been rowing for a year. 310314SP4
NOVICE: Pam Dickson has only been rowing for a year. 310314SP4
Pam Dickson is not one to sit around without a project on the go.
While some people find a marathon enough of a challenge, Dickson is looking to raise the bar further.
This week she hopes to become the first woman to row across the Cook Strait. And she also wants to row back to solve the problem of how to get the boat back to the start.
The feat will be the second time she has conquered that body of water - she became the oldest woman, at 55, to swim across it in 2009.
"I wonder what she'll tackle next," said her mum Betty Ewert. "I often get off the phone at night and feel tired just hearing about the training she has done."
It's a tough challenge but even more incredible when you consider Dickson only took up rowing a year ago, with this challenge already in mind. She had to pull the pin on her plans to swim across the English Channel due to illness, her recovery time cut too deep into her training. So after several years of endurance open water swimming, on the back of 15 ironman finishes, she decided to give another sport a go.
"Crossing the Cook Strait was already on my mind when I first came down," Dickson said.
"It was the first thing I said to them when I came down. I've been lucky in that I've trained with the masters and then spent three to four months training with the novice girls - that was fantastic. Everyone has supported me.
"It was a disappointment to miss out on the Channel attempt but I've not dwelled on it. Who knows, maybe it will happen again, but I felt I needed a break from swimming."
With less than a year in the sport, Dickson is still classed as a novice. She was originally going to attempt this feat at the end of this month but a window of opportunity came up for this week.
NOVICE: Pam Dickson has only been rowing for a year. 310314SP4
She has been consistently rowing 100km a week and recently put in 160km, including six hours on Lake Rotorua. As well as on-the-water rowing she has been using an erg (rowing machine), as well as strength training and swimming five times a week.
Dickson will be accompanied on this row by Phillip Rush, who usually accompanies swimmers on open water swimming challenges.
"He knows Cook Strait. He's got the support crews and I thought he would be the best man to help me. I know him and have confidence in him."
He will be in an IRB near Dickson, ensuring her safety at all times. There will also be another boat on hand in case she needs to get off the water.
Yesterday Dickson flew to Wellington. Her boat is staying in the Rotorua Rowing Club shed and instead she will borrow a boat from Olympian Viv Haar. Now she is waiting for good weather, to give her the best conditions for the row from Makara Beach to Perano Head, and back again.
"I feel confident with one way, both ways fitness wise, but it's just the weather."
