PHOTOS: Solo canoeist Gábor Rakonczay crossed the Atlantic!
After successfully completing his last solo expedition of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 75 days and 10 hours, Hungary’s solo canoeist Gábor Rakonczay has announced his retirement from that sport.
“I have crossed the ocean to see the force that moves the world,” the 44-year-old athlete said on Facebook on Sunday, noting that he had rowed 5,123 kilometres across the Atlantic to reach the bay of Antigua on Saturday evening Hungarian time.
“After my 77-day expedition of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 2012 this was my second journey crossing it again,” he said. “By completing this expedition, I consider my 18-year career in extreme sports finished. Now, with the experiences gained, I will enter a new phase in my life,” Rakonczay added.
Milestones in his career include sailing across an ocean four times, rowing across an ocean two times and crossing Greenland also two times, and completing a 44-day expedition in Antarctica.
Rakonczay is also a two-time Guinness world record holder and an ultra-marathon world champion. He is the only athlete in the world to have crossed the ocean by rowing a canoe.
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Bravo Gabor! Inspiring! Impressive ending to an 18 year career in extreme sports with his second cross-ocean solo rowing. Inspiring!
Former U.S. Naval Officer who recently conducted an on-land version of solo, long distance rowing with a 213 day Lewis and Clark scale survey across the lower 48 U.S. states that helped reduce the loss of teenage life and limb. I look here for pointers in resilience, endurance, and skill as I continue navigating through the rip tides and cross currents in America’s capital.
Dennis Brezina, E. Norriton, PA, USA
https://www.senate.gov/about/oral-history/brezina-dennis-oral-history.htm