By the end of this week, a Colorado lawyer will be one of an elite few to row across the Indian Ocean. And after 3,100 miles, the race could come down to a photo finish.
As part of the eight-person crew, Doug Tumminello, 43, has been at sea since April 28, when the team set out from Australia’s west coast bound for Mauritius. The international crew, ranging in age from 22 to 48, hooked up on the Internet and met in person just before the Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2009 began.
Equipped with dehydrated food, a water maker and a satellite phone, the crew of the Audeamus has endured a near capsize, salt sores and a broken rudder. When they reached the halfway point, Tumminello broke out a bottle of Colorado-made Stranahan’s whiskey for a toast.
As they entered the final 500 miles in second place, Tumminello checked in with The Denver Post via satellite phone.Q: When I told people I’d be talking to you, they all wanted to know one thing: How do you go to the bathroom?
A: That’s always the first question (laughing). We have a rowing deck about 20 feet long, with four rowing positions at all times. We have a bucket near the one that’s closest to the back, about a foot away. Yeah, it’s pretty intimate. We call it “bucket and chuck it.”
Q: We have about a 12-hour time difference — it’s nighttime here. What’s your view like there?
A: It’s a clear morning with some light clouds. Temperatures have been in the 90s. I’m in my cabin — just got off my last watch. My teammate Helen is lying right next to me. We’re literally touching. I’m looking up at damp clothing hanging from a net above us and about a foot away from my head one of my teammates is rowing away right now.
Q: It’s a small space; how do eight people fit?
A: There are always four people rowing and the other four are in their cabins taking care of their bodies, sleeping, eating. We have two cabins, fore and aft, that fit two of us. They are about a foot wide and less than 6 feet long. We are shoulder-to- shoulder and cheek to cheek. It’s not a luxury yacht by any means; it’s more of an enlarged coffin.
Q: Do you have any protection from the sun?
A: The rowing platform is an open deck — sun, rain, day, night — you’re out in the elements. We’ve been baked by the sun and blasted by the rain and the waves that come over the deck.
Q: So are you sunburned?
A: Not really, but I am very tan on the left side of my body because the sun comes up on that side when I’m rowing.
Q: How does your body feel, otherwise?
A: We all have a case of industrial diaper rash from being damp all the time. After rowing you get claw hands — the tendons in your hands and forearms take a beating. There’ll be times when I can’t even move my hands so I just massage that out.
Q: Have your legs atrophied?
A: This is not Olympic style rowing, but you do work the glutes, legs, upper back and shoulders. It’s relatively low- intensity rowing, 30 strokes per minute or so. By the time we show up in Mauritius we’ll be skinny.
Q: Tell me about your diet.
A: Eighty percent of our calories come from dehydrated food. We aim for 6,000 calories per person per day for 60 days. Even eating at that level I’m gonna lose weight. That’s why I put on about 25 pounds before we left.
Q: Oh sure, that’s how you explain it.
A: That’s the reason I ate all those cheeseburgers and drank all that beer!
Q: Other than working off the beer gut, why did you seek this challenge?
A: I’m actually using this as a training opportunity.
Q: A training opportunity?! Rowing across an ocean is training for you?
A: I have an abiding love of (Sir Ernest) Shackleton and his Antarctic adventure. I want to re-create his escape from Antarctica. That involves rowing across the Drake Passage and then crossing South Georgia Island — it’s a mountain traverse.
Q: Would you call yourself an adrenaline addict?
A: No, I wouldn’t say that. I am an amateur adventurer. It’s really an extreme endurance race. Compared to Everest, this is a tougher challenge. It’s one of the toughest endurance races going on in the world. And there’s an element of danger that goes along with it. It’s not just a physical challenge but emotional, mental and spiritual, as well.
Q: Which is harder, the physical or the mental part?
A: The mental aspects are probably the tougher challenges. The body is really adaptable. It’s really conditioning the mind to the deprivation that’s important.
Q: How do you train your mind?A: Experience helps. You train for it like any other aspect of training — lots of visualization, a lot of breathing, knowing in advance what you’re going to face. When I was on the rowing machine, I ran through scenarios that might come up and thought about my reaction. Another thing is just to have times that are particularly meaningful to me, so when times are tough I can go back and use them as a source of strength. I also do meditation and prayer. I pray throughout the day and the night.
Q: Do you want to send a message to our readers?
A: Dream big dreams. You’re stronger than you think you are, and you can do a lot more than you can imagine, so get out there and do it.
Kristen Browning-Blas: 303-954-1440 or kbrowning@denverpost
The race
Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2009, from Geraldton in Western Australia to Grand Baie Yacht Club on the island of Mauritius, just east of Madagascar. Eleven teams started the racetwo solo rowers, four pairs, four four-person crews and one eight-person team. Six teams remain. Follow them at .
The skipper
Angela Madsen, 48, an ocean-rowing pioneer who has rowed across the Atlantic, put together the eight-person team with the goal of setting a speed record for crossing the Indian Ocean. A Marine Corps veteran, Madsen was paralyzed from the waist down during a back operation and has since coached and competed in surfing and ocean rowing.
The boat
“Audeamus” is Latin for “Let us dare.” It’s 36 feet long with a 6-foot beam, built of balsa laminate and marine plywood. Two cabins fit two people lying side-by- side. Because of its larger size and crew, the Audeamus was required to give the smaller boats a nine-day head start.
Tips to round out your rowing regimen
Doug Tumminello trained for the Indian Ocean race by — you guessed it — working out on a rowing machine. Up to four hours a day. “It’s not that complicated. There’s not a lot of ocean rowing in Colorado, so you get on the rowing machines at the gym,” he says.
If you are inspired to row your own boat, here are some tips from the British Amateur Rowing Association:
• Incorporate core stability exercises and stretching into your training program. Cross-training may reduce the incidence of low back pain.
• Take a short break for extension stretches after more than one hour of rowing or 30 minutes of ergometer (rowing machine) training. Lie face down, and push your head and shoulders off the ground until your arms are straight, arching your back backward without causing any pain, and hold the stretch for 20 seconds.
• Fatigue is a major risk factor for injury. Seek advice from a health professional if any pain lasts longer than 48 hours.
• During rehabilitation from an old injury, build up carefully. Take particular care during long steady- state rowing and standing starts. Alter your training routine to work around previous injuries.
Previous injury is a strong predictor of future injury. Coaches and athletes should keep an injury log.
Colorado rowing clubs:
The Fort Collins Rowing Association offers novice sculling classes in nine sessions June 27-July 23. Details at .
The Mile High Rowing Club for high school students rows on Cherry Creek Reservoir out of the marina, and offers a rowing camp July 13-17. More at milehigh .
The Rocky Mountain Rowing Club is also based at Cherry Creek Reservoir. Lots of information and links to other groups at .
Kristen Browning-Blas
Audeamus crew
Doug Tumminello, 43, Littleton: Lawyer with Rothgerber, Johnson & Lyons, Army veteran, summitted Mount Everest and Mount McKinley, father of Bowden, 5, and Alexandra, 11, married to competitive cyclist Lisa Renee Tumminello
Brian Flick, 23, Portland, Ore.: College crew, mountain climber
Helen Taylor, 22, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England: Oxford graduate, rowing team, cyclist, soccer player
Bernard Fisset, 46, Brussels, Belgium: Physical therapist, nutritionist, mountain climber, rower and marathoner
Paul Cannon, 44, United Kingdom: Sailor, climbed Kilimanjaro, flying trapeze catcher and coach
Simon Chalk, 36, United Kingdom: First and youngest Brit to row across the Indian Ocean, owner of the race organizer, Woodvale Challenge Ltd.
Ian Couch, 39, United Kingdom: British army officer, owner of endurance event company Adventure Hub Ltd., completed Jurassic Coast Challenge (three marathons in three days), Gobi Desert Race and 2007 Indian Ocean row
Follow online
Kristen Browning-Blas
