An Austrian woman traveled to Antarctica with an expedition ended up earning 10 Guinness World Records, including becoming first woman to row on the Southern Ocean.
Lisa Farthofer, 31, rowed 407 nautical miles in the open waters of Antarctica from Jan. 11-17, and in the process became the first woman to row on the Southern Ocean and the first woman to row on Polar open waters, Guinness World Records announced.
Farthofer and her expedition team -- Fiann Paul of Iceland, Mike Matson of the United States, Jamie Douglas-Hamilton of Britain, Stefan Ivanov of Bulgaria and Brian Krauskopf of the United States -- aimed to retrace the steps of a 1915 voyage carried out by Ernest Shackleton and his crew from Elephant Island to South Georgia.
The team had to abandon their expedition halfway through due to illness and injuries among the crew, but not before setting a further eight Guinness World Records as a team.
The team earned records for first human-powered expedition in the Southern Ocean, fastest row on the Southern Ocean, first human-powered expedition on the Scotia Sea, first human-powered expedition from the Antarctic, fastest Polar row, longest distance rowed on the Southern Ocean, first human-powered expedition on the Southern Ocean (South to North) and southernmost start of a rowing expedition.
"I saw some really amazing things," Farthofer told Guinness World Records. "It was rough and difficult at times but there were some astonishing moments like being in the middle of a pack of fin whales, and it also felt like there was always a pack of penguins with us."
She said the journey highlighted the beauty of nature.
"A project like this really gives you a taste of how beautiful our world is and how little we know about it, so it does make you want to see more. And knowing that we didn't fully fulfill our project, it is hard to leave it at that," she said.