Keele graduate in trio set to row 3,000 miles across Atlantic in charity challenge

A Keele University graduate is part of a courageous trio of women preparing to take on one of the world’s most demanding endurance challenges.

NHS surgeon Jenna Volpert will be joined by friends Lauren Wilde-Arnold and Ellen Clarke as they compete in the World's Toughest Row this December for charity - a gruelling 3,000-mile crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua.

The team, known as Saltire Tides, will attempt to cross the ocean using only their oars, facing unpredictable weather, physical exhaustion, salt sores and prolonged isolation. The race is unsupported, aside from satellite contact with organisers, and the trio are aiming to complete the challenge in under 40 days by rowing around the clock.

Jenna, 29, who graduated from Keele with a degree in medicine in 2021, said: "I've always loved adventure and spending time outside, especially when it challenges me both mentally and physically. The row was my idea, but I'm lucky to have two very good friends joining me. Sometimes I think my biggest talent in life is getting other people to say yes to my crazy ideas!

"My best friend at Keele gifted me a second-hand bike, and that was really where it all began. I cycled everywhere at university because it was a cheap and sustainable way to travel. From there, I began visiting friends and family across the UK by bike, gradually building my confidence and pushing the distances.

"In 2024, I spent several months cycling up the west coast of Africa and I’ve always loved the idea of completing a fully self-powered circumnavigation - which is what led me to start thinking 'what about crossing the oceans'?

"My dad sailed across the south Atlantic and I think he planted the idea in my heart as a child. I love the fact it is a self-powered, self-supported adventure, where we're using our own bodies to move across the ocean. I grew up in Jersey and all three of us spent a lot of our childhoods by the coast in one place or another, so I think the three of us have a natural love of the sea."

The World's Toughest Row across the Atlantic began in 1997 and has taken place every December since 2015. More than 30 teams are expected to compete this year, encountering whales, dolphins, marlins and other wildlife along the way, and completing an estimated 1.5 million oar strokes per team. Fewer people have rowed the Atlantic than have reached the summit of Mount Everest.

"Right now, I’m doing between 15 to 20 hours of training each week around my work schedule," said Jenna.

"It's mainly a combination of cycling and time on the static rowing machine in the gym. From March we will have our ocean rowing boat up in Scotland and will be able to get out on the water in it, which we’re all excited about.

"I think that’s the moment when the size and scale of the challenge will really start to feel real. It's going to be as mentally demanding as it is physically. I’m very used to having two feet on the ground, but once we’re out of sight of land and in the solitude of the ocean, we’ll just deal with whatever happens.

"We know it’s going to be tough but at the same time other people who have done it before have talked about the incredible sunrises they witnessed and seeing wildlife like orcas and sperm whales, how incredible to share that with my friends."

The team are raising funds and awareness for The Archie Foundation, a Scottish charity that supports healthcare and bereavement services for children and families. The charity helps fund new equipment, child-friendly hospital spaces, bereavement services and the development of new operating theatres. 

Jenna is currently working in the Paediatric Surgery department across the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh and Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where she has seen first-hand the impact of the charity's work.

During her time at Keele, Jenna was named Neil and Gina Smith Student of the Year. Her academic achievements included a quality improvement project that received first prize from the Royal College of GPs and contributed to changes in GP practice to benefit post-operative patients.

Reflecting on her time at the University, she said: "Keele provided genuinely the most nurturing environment for me to become the person I am today.

"I was exceptionally happy for five years and I had the space to balance studying medicine with running around and enjoying myself, playing hockey, and getting involved in societies. I never felt like a number on the course - it always felt like the university was genuinely invested in me as a person and cared about who I was, and that was important to me.

"I felt very strongly at Keele that I wanted to pursue surgery and now I'm pursuing a master's in global surgery. A lot of the themes and interests I'm developing now in the early stage of my career were initially sparked at Keele, and I regularly signpost people to the University as a great place to study."