Category: Northern Ireland; Children in Need
Date: 14.11.2005
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A former 91Èȱ¬ Northern Ireland broadcaster has achieved the seemingly impossible and rowed single-handed across the world's largest fresh water lake, all for 91Èȱ¬ Children in Need..
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Dubbed the 'Crazy Irishman', Ian Harvey (58) from Ballymena took just 11 days to row 400 miles across the mighty Lake Superior, which borders the United States of America and Canada.
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Spurred on by a personal challenge to conquer the lake, coupled with a lifelong love of rowing and also a desire to raise funds for 91Èȱ¬ Children in Need, Ian set off on his journey over the last two weeks in July of this year.
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This was not the first time Ian had taken to the waters for charity.
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In 2003 he rowed across Lake Victoria in Uganda, becoming the first single rower to do so.
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Over the years he has raised more than £100,000 for an African-based charity.
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Ian says: "Once I had rowed Lake Victoria I thought now how can I top that? So I took a map of the world and found Lake Superior and realised it was the largest fresh water lake on earth and that was it, I had to row across it."
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Setting out in a small, single scull, named Pudsey, weighing a mere 40 kilos, measuring 19 feet long and just six inches above the water line, Ian's voyage created a huge wave of interest as he set out from Duluth, the furthest most point to the west of the lake.
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He recalls: "All along our route people were fantastic, as word spread through the press about what we were doing.
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"Everyone started calling me the Crazy Irishman and it stuck with me the entire way!"
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Ian was followed by a small support team from Northern Ireland in a Second World War tugboat, with 91Èȱ¬ Northern Ireland's Jim Creagh on board tracking his every move on camera and acting as director, together with sound operator Peter Moore, producing a 40-minute fly-on-the-wall documentary.
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The Crazy Irishman rowed an average of 34 miles a day, which amounted to the equivalent of more than 11 marathons in two weeks.
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Ian recalls: "I had to do a fair bit of training beforehand and walked about five or six miles a day and swam at least 24 lengths every day in Castlereagh baths.
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"However, people were worried they hadn't seen me out rowing on the water, but as I explained I was able to row but as this is an extreme sport I was more concerned with building up my physical and mental endurance."
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It wasn't all plain sailing, as Ian encountered severe weather out on the lake and was forced to make up some of his time by rowing at night.
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He explains: "One of the nights I had to get into the boat as the weather had been so bad during the day and I was anxious to keep going.
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"It was a very dark night and was literally like rowing with my eyes closed, as I couldn't see where I was going and I had never done anything like that before.
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"It was really quite scary and at one point I had to abandon it, as the captain of the Seneca (the tugboat) couldn't see where I was and was afraid of colliding with me.
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"Out on the lake the weather could turn from calm to very rough in a short time.
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"One minute I could be rowing in relative calm and the next minute could be battling against two and three foot waves in my tiny craft, just six inches away from the waterline, with waves breaking over my head."
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At no time did Ian question his decision to take up the challenge.
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However, he does admit there were times he doubted his own sanity.
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He says: "I never once wanted to give up or questioned why I had set out to do this, as I knew it was for Children in Need and would really help children and young people throughout Northern Ireland and that's what kept me going.
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"At 58 it's a good thing for people to see someone of my age who is physically and mentally capable of doing this.
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"To be honest, it took me weeks to come down from the whole experience, as I was on a complete high and I think I still am!"
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A Superior Challenge is tonight (Monday 14 November) on 91Èȱ¬ ONE NI at 10.35pm.
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Notes to Editors
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This year's 91Èȱ¬ Children in Need is on Friday (18 November), on 91Èȱ¬ Radio Ulster from 7.00am, and on 91Èȱ¬ ONE NI from 7.00pm in the company of Donna Traynor and John Daly live from the 91Èȱ¬'s Blackstaff studios in Belfast and Terry Wogan, Natasha Kaplinsky and Fearne Cotton in London.
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