Bryan Hyland and Tom Bourke are taking on the Worlds toughest row in December 2026, 2 cyclists who are now swapping their wheels for oars.
What began as a half-mad idea, two lads with absolutely no rowing experience deciding they’d take on the Atlantic Ocean, has slowly, steadily, and sometimes chaotically transformed into one of the most defining journeys of our lives.
At the start, it was just a conversation. A notion. A phone call by Tom to Bryan asking him if he would like to row an Ocean and the answer being “yes”. Then the 5 year plan turned into “how soon can we go”… Then down to brass tax! “Imagine doing the World’s Toughest Row… imagine crossing from La Gomera to Antigua under our own power… imagine doing something massive for charity.” Most people would laugh, or nod politely and forget it five minutes later. We didn’t. Something in the challenge, the madness, and the sheer scale of it grabbed hold of us. And once that took root, it didn’t let go. Very quickly, the reality of what we had committed to began to unfold. Still a bit of a dream but Rowing the Atlantic isn’t something you simply “give a lash.” It’s a two-year process of turning ordinary people, with busy jobs, young families, and normal lives into something approaching ocean-ready athletes. It meant learning to row from scratch, first in a Currach where every stroke came with a reminder of how far we had to go and how hard rowing actually is. It meant getting coached, building strength sessions, conditioning blocks, and hours on the erg. It meant progress that came in inches, not miles.
Getting our Rannoch boat, the R25, now named Misneach (meaning Courage) was a turning point. Seeing her for the first time, running our hands along the hull, sitting in the cabin where we’ll eventually sleep in shifts while the other battles wind, waves, and their own mind… it made everything very real. Suddenly, this wasn’t an idea. It was a commitment.
Training on Clew Bay has become our classroom. We are still very new to this but we try to get out as much as we can. The waters we know through work, fishing, family memories, and adventure are the testing ground for something much bigger.
Clare Island on the horizon stopped being scenery and started being a training partner, a destination, a benchmark of progress. Some sessions are magic flat seas, good rhythm, moments where we feel like a proper crew. Others are brutal: wind in our faces, hands torn & blistered, legs burning, and that stubborn Mayo swell reminding us just how small we are. But this journey isn’t just physical. It is deeply personal. Long before we dip an oar into the Atlantic, we’ve fought battles with doubt, time, and the sheer weight of what the next 14 months demand. Balancing full-time work, young families, training, fundraising, logistics, shipping, customs, registration, and a thousand unseen details has pushed us harder than any gym session.
And at the centre of it all is why we’re doing it.
Daisy Lodge, the families, the children, the moments we want to support has turned a wild adventure into a mission. When the days are long, when the training is heavy, when the boat paperwork does our heads in, the “why” pulls us back into focus. We’re doing something extraordinary, not for ego, but for impact.
We’re not pretending to be seasoned rowers. We’re not trying to be something we’re not. We’re just two ordinary lads, taking on something extraordinary, because sometimes you need to do something big to make a difference. Something mad, something courageous, something that forces you to grow in ways you never expected.
That’s the journey so far:
A spark of an idea.
Two lads with no experience.
A boat called Misneach.
A cause that matters.
And a growing belief that we can and will row an ocean.
The Atlantic is still ahead of us. But already, this journey has changed us. It’s tested us, focused us, and bound us together in a challenge bigger than either of us could take on alone.
And the crazy part?
We’re only getting started.
