The Atlantic campaigns have forced the race to expand beyond its British origins, which has been crucial to the increasing inclusion of the game. But the most important thing for women like Savage and McClure is to dispel the image of the traditional researcher. “There was a time when Ironman was not considered crazy,” he said. “That’s what we think of changing as much as possible.”
The Atlantic Challenge is also beginning, slowly, to reflect racial diversity, as you would expect from a staff of 21 employees, representing 10 nationalities, and a tolerant membership that survives in one-eighth of the world.
In the 2019 event, Antigua became the first black team – male or female – to complete the Crystal Clashing, Kevinia Francis, Elvira Bell and Samara Emanuel races. To date, the Atlantic Challenge has seven black competitors, including the Antiguan women.
“Being able to travel this way allowed us to write our own story, black people can take control of a story that doesn’t float, they don’t do these kinds of activities,” Clashing said. “In the end, we were able to say, ‘Yes, there was a cultural shock to us in the Atlantic Ocean, but now we are not allowed to direct what we have to do.’
This year’s race included players from Spain and South Africa, Antigua and Uruguay, the United States and Britain. At a time when many sporting events were drastically changed or held, the race – one of the most socially remote in the world – was able to move forward.
As Harrison approached the final week of the tour, the weather remained calm and the water surface shook in “the brightest turquoise you’ve ever seen.” Its for hours. A blue whale bent beside it, the white, daola-like edge of its flipper, giving its oar an almost iving high fiving.
