Brit woman rower strips off with her five-man crew to break world record

LONDON - A British athlete, who was the only woman on a five-man crew trying to break the record for crossing the Atlantic, shed all her inhibitions aside and joined her team-mates in stripping to heal blisters.

Naomi Hoogesteger, 29, was the only woman in the six-person boat, and when the rest of her crew started rowing naked to avoid blisters during the world record attempt, she decided to follow suit.

“It was a little bit more embarrassing for me as the only woman with five men,” the Daily Mail quoted the Durham University lecturer as admitting.

“The blisters and sores on our backsides were bad and becoming infected. The only way we could treat them and continue rowing was to expose them to nature’s own remedy, sun and air.

“It did mean that at times we had to row naked but if that was what was required to break the world record, then there was no choice.

“I decided to strip naked on day three or four because I had some big sores on my bottom and just thought I had to do it. My crew had stripped off the day before and were just getting on with it.

“Being the fastest ever rowers across the Atlantic was all that mattered.

“I’ve seen enough male dangly bits over the last month to last me a lifetime,” the former Great Britain rower added.

The British team, called Hallin, broke the world record for the 3,000-mile row after crossing the finishing line in 31 days, 23 hours and 31 minutes, beating the previous record by 20 hours and 14 minutes. (ANI)