Victoria is an ambassador for UK charity ‘Women in Sport’. Having developed a love of adventure in her late twenties, she progressed from running and cycling to summits of Mont Blanc, Gran Paradiso and Kilimanjaro.
In March 2022 she became the fastest female to solo row 2,559 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, finishing in 40 days, 21 hours and 1 minute and knocking 8.5 days off the previous Guinness World Record.
Outside of adventure, Victoria is a sports and media lawyer with over ten years of experience practising in both the UK and Switzerland. Having held roles in both European and Olympic federations, as well as commercial media organisations, she focuses on the development and negotiation of sports sponsorship and licensing, media creation and distribution, and sports governance. She uses her legal training to tackle gender equality in sport, securing the first written pregnancy deferral policy of an organised race in February 2022 when Ironman agreed to collaborate, and now focusing heavily on safeguarding.
New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday at 7am UK time - Subscribe so you don’t miss out.
You can support the Tough Girl mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media - especially in relation to adventure and physical challenge by signing up as a patron. www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast. Thank you.
Listen to Victoria Now!
Click here if you can't see the link below.
Show notes
Who is Victoria
Working as a commercial lawyer
Being based in London
Growing up in the countryside in Yorkshire
Not being interested in sports as a young age
Getting into fitness in her mid/late 20s
Deciding to become a lawyer
Wanting to become financially secure
Training in Manchester and working long hours
Moving to Switzerland and getting into the outdoor lifestyle
Doing her first (and only) triathlon
Getting into climbing mountains
Where the dream to row the Atlantic Ocean came from
Wanting to make a change
Doing work with UN Women
Doing research into ocean rowing
The reasons behind the challenge
Being inspired by the women on the tough girl podcast
The practical steps taken to make the dream a reality
Having to quit her job to take on the ocean row
Taking a leap of faith and finding a way to make it happen
Connecting with Women in Sport
Sorting out the basics
Securing her title sponsor at the end of 2019
Sitting her ocean rowing exams in Feb 2020
Going into lockdown in March 2020
Planning to go in 2021 and needing to postpone to 2022
Dealing with new challenges and setbacks
Deciding to go freelance as a lawyer
Dealing with the stress before getting to the start line
Having a fantastic support network
The start of the challenge
Structure on the boat?!
The challenges while on the boat
The magical moments while out on the water
Focusing on the good
What are you doing? Why are you here?
The mental side of the row
Having no let up at all
Needing to be the one to fix every problem and every issue
Getting through the tough days
Making history and breaking records
Not wanting to do another adventure at this level
Wanting to help and support athletes with safeguarding issues
Looking after her own mental health
Taking a break from exercise and fitness
How to connect with Victoria
The importance of knowing your why and why you are passionate about it
Back yourself
Listening to multiple episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast
Social Media
Website www.seachangesport.com
Instagram @seachangesport
Feeling inspired week after week?
You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!
Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love.
Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!
Want to do more?
Please become a Patron and donate US$5 a month to help fund the runnings costs. Thank you.
