Jasmine Harrison

This inspirational young woman from Yorkshire is the holder of two remarkable world records.

At 21 years old, the swimming teacher became the first woman in the world to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean on her own – despite the fact that she had never rowed before.

Aged 23, she became the first woman in the world to swim the full length of Britain from Land’s End to John O’Groats. That’s 900-miles (1,448km) swimming for several hours a day while battling jellyfish, chafing wetsuits, cold and extreme fatigue.

The extreme swim, which took 110 days, was the equivalent of swimming almost 58,000 lengths of a 25m pool. 

During the swim, Harrison had to contend with numerous difficulties including cold water, busy shipping lanes, painful chafing from her wetsuit and ‘salt mouth’, a condition which strips skin from the tongue and throat and makes it hard to swallow. 

She also had to contend with the mental challenges of the swim. Each day she would put in a consistent effort and keep the same pace, but some swims saw so little distance gained it was hard not to become dispirited. At one point in the Bristol Channel she only progressed three miles in six hours, which was very tough for her mentally. 

These bold, life-changing challenges were driven by Jasmine’s passion for adventure and a desire to change perceptions of what young women are capable of doing.

And to encourage other young people – and people of all ages – to step out their comfort zone, overcome anxiety and embrace new challenges.

Ocean rowing is widely regarded as one of the world’s most gruelling challenges and rarely attempted. Since the first ocean row in 1896, the feat has been attempted less than 1,000 times. To put that into context, more people tried to climb Mount Everest in 2019.

Add in the fact that solo female ocean rows are even rarer, with only 19 women successfully crossing any ocean, and the scale of Jasmine’s bravery and ambition is abundantly clear.

Undaunted, Jasmine set off from the Canary Islands buoyed by self-belief and a clarity of purpose that comes with knowing what challenges lie ahead.

Along the way, she had to endure and overcome daily physical and mental exhaustion, often paddling for over 12hours a day and surviving on erratic sleep and eating patterns. Not to mention life-threatening danger, including nearly colliding with a massive drilling ship and being thrown into the ocean, and injury, when her boat was twice capsized by waves.

Jasmine not only survived, she completed the crossing to Antigua in 70 days, in doing so at 21 years old achieving her goal of becoming the youngest woman in the world to row solo across the Atlantic – taking the record from previous holder, 22-year-old Katie Spotz from the USA. In addition, she became the youngest female to row solo across any ocean.

In her talks and content, Jasmine inspires others by discussing themes such as:

• The benefits of seeking out and setting new challenges

• Building resilience

• How to inspire the people around you

• Overcoming anxiety and negative thinking

• Establishing an ‘anything is possible’ mindset

• Decision-making under pressure

• Coping with isolation and solitude

• The mental and physical benefits of being in nature

• Tackling anxiety, fear and mental health challenges