The Solo Sea to City Row

The Solo Sea to City Row is the first solo row along The Thames from Southend Pier, at the limit of the North Sea, to the City of London, a total distance of 70km.

Rory Gullan established the challenge and will be rowing in a single scull racing shell, expecting to complete the distance within 6-7 hours of continuous rowing. He aims to raise £10,000 for Cancer Research UK in memory of his mother Sheila Gullan.

The Challenge

Rory rowed in the Men’s Heavyweight 8 at McGill University, Montreal in 2003. He sees The Solo Sea to City Row as an opportunity to get back on the water, doing something both challenging and rewarding.

The endurance challenge is set to take place on 28th August 2017. This gives Rory 6 months to train, both on and off the water. He will be building up both the technical skill to row a single scull racing shell, a challenge in itself, and the fitness required for an endurance row, in order to take on the challenge and raise money to help beat cancer sooner. To put the sheer size of the challenge into context; a typical race is 2km - around seven minutes rowing. Rory will be rowing 70km, in open water and the tidal Thames, in a time of 7 hours.

Not stopping there, Rory wants The Solo Sea to City Row to become an established fundraising challenge for others to take on in the future to continue to support the work of Cancer Research UK. 

The Cause

Rory is aiming to raise £10,000 for Cancer Research UK. It is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. Their ambition is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

One in two people will get cancer at some point in their lifetime. Over the last 40 years, survival has doubled: today, half of cancer patients will survive. Their bold ambition is to accelerate progress within the next 20 years, so that at least three-quarters of people survive the disease.

Cancer Research UK want survival in the UK to be among the best in the world. They’re focusing their efforts in four key areas – working to help prevent cancer, diagnose it earlier, develop new treatments and optimise current treatments by personalising them and making them even more effective.

After fighting cancer for 22 years, Rory’s mother passed away in April 2015. He has since been putting into action this fundraising challenge to raise money in her memory, for Cancer Research UK.