Caribbean Beat — November/December 2018 (#154)

need to know
Great Outdoors
Rowing for a
cause
Since 1997, the annual Talisker Whisky
Atlantic Challenge has begun in the
Canary Islands and finished in Antigua.
Yet until 2015 there had never been a
Caribbean team attempting the row,
considered one of the toughest races
in the world, in which individuals or
teams of up to five people row across
the Atlantic in a tiny boat. It sounds
crazy, but it raises thousands of dollars
for charity each year (each team
competes for their favourite).
In late 2015 and early 2016,
the entire country of Antigua and
Barbuda watched in amazement as
pioneering Team Wadadli made their
way across the Atlantic. Inspired by
these dauntless men, two years later
another Antiguan team came a close
second to the fastest finishers in race
history, completing the race in only
thirty days on 13 January, 2018. The
next challenge? An all-female team,
currently training for this year’s race
(which begins in early December).
Team Antigua Island Girls includes
Elvira Bell, Christal Clashing, Samara
Emmanuel, Kevinia Francis, and
Junella King. Four of them will actually
compete. They’ve set their sights on
being the top female contenders, and
are planning to be among the top five
finishers overall.
Elvira Bell has been a natural athlete
all her life. The thirty-six-year-old is
a keen swimmer, martial artist, and
certified health coach. By day she’s
a flight dispatcher, and at first she
wasn’t specially keen on taking up this
particular challenge, but no became
yes after her best friend Kevinia Francis
insisted they join.
Francis, for her part, has been
imagining an all-female crew since the
original Team Wadadli competed. “This
challenge epitomises all that I live for
in one go: sports, travel, competition,
country, charity, new experiences, and
creating memories,” says the fortyyear-old.
Meanwhile, Samara Emmanuel was
the first Antiguan woman to become
an RYA-certified yacht captain, and at
thirty-two, she has more than a dozen
years’ seafaring experience. Emmanuel
has a passion for the water — as does
Christal Clashing, who made history
in 2004 as the first female swimmer
to represent Antigua and Barbuda at
the Olympics. Now twenty-eight, and
a travel writer, she was excited to join
the women’s team after being inspired
years ago by the journey of the canoe
Gli-Gli through the Caribbean.
And the youngest member of the
team, Junella King, is only seventeen.
A keen sailor, she juggles sports and
schoolwork, and her interest in the race
was inspired when Team Wadadli, postrace,
visited her school.
The team are rowing for the charity
Cottage of Hope, a home where girls
from newborn to age eighteen can find
a safe, secure, and stable place to live
when their family lives are unsuitable.
It’s as good a reason as any for these
intrepid young women to undertake
the adventure of a lifetime.
Bridget van Dongen
To support the Team Antigua
Island Girls in their journey, visit
www.antiguabarbudaislandgirls.com
courtesy team antigua island girls
From left to right: Kevinia Francis, Samara Emmanuel, Christal Clashing, Junella King, and Elvira Bell — the Team Antigua Island Girls
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