To row the ocean requires courage and perseverance. Roz Savage had enough to do so — solo — three times.

Savage, a record-setting ocean rower, is the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Her journeys have taken her more than 15,000 miles across the water, all within the confines of a 23-foot rowboat.

Savage kicked off this semester’s University Lectures series in Hendricks Chapel on Wednesday night. She shared her insights on life, motivation, spirituality and sustainability with members of the Syracuse University community in her lecture, “The Human Condition: An Ocean Rower’s Perspective.”

Now retired from rowing, the 2010 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year works to spread environmental awareness. She said the conviction she had to spread an environmental message motivated her throughout her journey across the Atlantic, the first of her three ocean crossings.

“I wanted to leave a legacy,” she said, “to have done something to have made this world a better place.”

She encouraged audience members to get out of their comfort zones and use their power to change the world for the better. It is time for the developed Western world to redefine success and replace conspicuous consumption with conservation, she said. Friendship and a sense of community are more important than a fat paycheck, she added.

Savage’s rowing journey began after she realized she was dissatisfied with being just one of the millions commuting to an office. This prompted her to write two obituaries for herself. One described the life she was currently living, while the other chronicled a life of adventure and risk.

“I arrived at a fork in the road and took the ocean less traveled,” she said of her decision to walk away from a stable career and pursue the life described in the more exciting obituary.

She set off across the Atlantic Ocean in 2005 as a part of the Atlantic Rowing Race, becoming the first woman to complete the race solo. She crossed the Pacific in three stages between 2008-2010 before rowing the Indian Ocean in 2011.

Her time rowing all three oceans was not without its trials. She faced death by dehydration when her water converter broke, lost contact with land when her satellite phone died and briefly lost her boat when she jumped into the water to retrieve a fallen boat hook.

She described the feeling of completing her row across the Atlantic – the first of her three ocean ventures – as a combination of finishing an Ironman triathlon, winning an Oscar and getting out of jail.

“It was the worst 103 days of my life, but the sense of achievement was great,” she said.

Her time on the ocean taught her that she is just another animal, and that Mother Nature will not spare her just because she has opposable thumbs and an over-developed brain, she said.

It was frightening at times, but Savage said she emerged from the experience ready to face new challenges.

“It was a maturing process, putting myself into a scary, solitary situation and coming back a grownup,” she said. “It was deeply character-building.”

Hendricks erupted in applause at the lecture’s conclusion. Harriet Hwang, a junior social work major, said she found Savage’s lecture inspiring.

Said Hwang: “It gave me the chance to really look at my life.”

Published on February 28, 2013 at 12:37 am

Contact Kerry: kwolfe01@syr.edu