July 4, 2011 10.11 am This story is over 152 months old

Chris Farrell breaks rowing world record

World record: A Lincoln man has broken the world record for rowing continuously on a machine for 41 hours.

Anyone walking alongside the Brayford this weekend may have caught a glimpse of a world record attempt taking place on the decking outside the Holiday Inn hotel.

Chris Farrell, who started his bid for the record at midday on Friday, July 1, took hold of the record at 6.10pm on Saturday, after having rowed continuously on a rowing machine for 30 hours.

As he took his first few strides into taking control of the record, Farrell described the excitement and relief of having officially beaten the world record.

“It feels a bit more comfortable now that I’m not having to break someone else’s record. I’m very happy.”

Farrell has had a huge task on his hands over the past two days and admits that his will power has not been the only thing that has been put to the test.

“At six o’clock onwards I hit a bit of a wall and it took me about four hours to get past that. My bottom went numb at about nine o’clock this morning and now I can’t feel it at all.”

Despite being exhausted and in pain, the 23-year-old sports and community development officer who works for West Lindsey District Council, was determined to carry on.

“Because I’ve got this far, I don’t want to stop now. I want to get it to a point where I think, right, that’s going to be unbeatable for a while now.”

Since Farrell began his rowing marathon on Friday, he has received a lot of attention from passers-by who have been doing their bit to get involved.

Many have joined him for a quick row on the machine beside him and contributions to Kidney Research UK and the Lincoln Rowing Centre have been happily received.

But Farrell says that the biggest incentive to keep going has been the constant encouragement he has received from his friends and family.

“They have been really good. I wouldn’t really have done this without a lot of the help and support my family and friends have given me over the two days. Especially, some of the support team Richard, Daniel and Kate.”

At around 4am on Sunday, July 3, Farrell finally stopped rowing, setting a new world record at 41 hours.

There will be just enough time for him to get some rest before heading off to take part in the British Rowing Championship starting on July 15.

In the words of one onlooker at Saturday’s event: “The man is a machine!”

Photos: Samantha Fisher for The Lincolnite